The financial assistance of Rs. 22 billion to be extended by the World Bank to initiate 14 green initiatives in Pakistan is a welcome development. Dealing with the climate change challenges has remained a top priority of the PTI government. Since, the PTI government came into power in 2018, it had embarked on a challenging assignment of planning 10 billion trees in five years. Not only the government but the general public is also taking interest in bringing a green revolution in the country.
Pakistan is a country that is extremely vulnerable to climate change. Rise in global temperatures and the resulting irregular weather patterns could wreak havoc on the majority of the population. The recent waves of destructive floods in Balochistan bear testament to the fact that the poor in Pakistan have the most to lose as a result of climate change. Moreover, global warming can grossly damage the agricultural base of the country, which, in turn, would endanger food provision and security for the masses. All this shows the gravity of climate change and the need to effectively counter it. The disturbing trend of climate challenge can be tackled by increasing forest cover in the country.
Already trees are continuously depleting due to the persistent pressure of traffic and urbanisation. With the passage of time, our forest area is shrinking. The international criterion requires that 33 percent of a country’s total area should be covered with forests for sustainable environment whereas Pakistan has less than five percent area covered in forests, which is a cause for concern. Moreover, the depletion of trees is also affecting the weather conditions. Smog made Lahore one of the worst polluted city while situation was also not good in other major cities. In order to preserve the environment and recover forest coverage of the country, planting trees should receive due emphasis, and more and more trees need to be planted. To this end, government should encourage people for tree-plantation campaign, and urge the latter to focus on protecting and nurturing the planted trees.
