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Climate Change: A Threat Multiplier 

oste! on "ugust #$ %'(by )ocial an! Development log of a*istan +)DL,

By: Raja Taimur Hassan

Climate Change is a threat$ which is transnational$ an! not -ust confine! to national boun!aries. ILL/)TR"TI012 Ra-a Taimur 

3assan

Islamabad: We are witnessing around the world that global warming is leading tomore volatile weather patterns, which causes worse humanitarian crisis. The ith

assessment report o Intergovernmental panel on climate change !I"##$, the %&

 body who advise the governments on climate change, indicates that i the world

continues to burn ossil uels at the current rate, global warming will cross two

degrees #elsius threshold, agreed by governments as limiting the worst impacts o 

climate change, by the end o '( century.

Do we ever think that what would happen to the world, when global temperature breaches the

two (2) degree Celsius threshold?

Heat waves will be more frequent and last longer !ost wet regions will get more rainfall, and

most dr" regions less #laciers and $rctic sea ice cover will continue to shrink, and the sea level

 will rise more quickl" %t would disturb the eco s"stem, negativel" affect human health and

stresses on fresh water resources

&he worst has "et to come and this world would e'perience worse e'treme weather events, if no

concrete measures would be taken immediatel" Climate e'perts believe that nobod" on this

planet is going to be untouched b" the impacts of climate change

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Climate change would cost huge loss and damages in term of econom" and a large number of 

populations would come under povert" !illions of people would displace onl" due to e'treme

 weather events %t would also pose risk to global food securit" and up to twent" five (2) percent

staple crop production would drop down in maor parts of the world ($lthough the agriculture

production has become reduce around the world due to changing in weather patterns)

*or e'ample in +akistan, the world has alread" witnessed and e'periences the dire consequences

of climate change

nl" in 2-.- devastated floods in +akistan, the kind of e'treme weather event which the %+CC

sa"s is the result of climate change, almost twent" two (22) million people were displaced,

millions of houses were destro"ed, several villages inundated and precious life loosed &hese

drastic floods inflicted losses on different sectors of the econom" to the tune of fort" three (/0)

 billion dollars

+akistan has been ranked top a list of countries hit worst b" weather e'tremes in 2-.2 b" 

#erman watch &he inde', which ranks countries affected over the last twent" "ears b" weather

e'tremes such as flooding and storms 1nvironmentalists estimate that environmental

degradation cost +akistans econom" over 3s04 billion ever" "ear

&here are enough evidences that climate change and environmental degradation, during past

two to three decades, are turning to serious threats to human health and food securit", water

and energ" securit", and human and individual securit" &his reveals that climate change is a

threat multiplier to all other threats

Climate Change is a threat, which is transnational, and not ust confined to national boundaries%t has become a serious challenge for global securit"

&he world has to adopt now, otherwise these rising climate change threats could cause serious

consequences to global securit" &here is dire need of cross border information sharing

regarding climate change and need of strong cooperation and collaboration among countries

and regions as well

&he %+CC report also highlights that global warming will hit $sia the hardest, with flooding,

famine and rising sea levels putting hundreds of millions at risk 5ut maorit" of the

marginali6ed communities in the disaster prone areas have no knowledge, no capacit", and no

earl" warning s"stem to combat with harmful impact of climate change

Having a lot of potential to tackle with the challenges of climate change, ver" least has been done

regarding mitigation, preparedness, spreading awareness, and adaptation strategies

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&here is need to strengthen the marginali6ed communities and develop their capacit" in order to

prevent them from huge loss and damages 3ole of media is ver" crucial in spreading the

awareness in ever" nook and corner of the region

However, there is no significant measures have been taken so for in order to curb the challenges

of climate change 1ver" time natural disasters came and we bear huge loss and damages in the

form of infrastructure and more over loss of precious human lives

ur natural resources are destro"ing due to negligence b" the polic" makers and poor capacit" of 

the state to deal with the issue Countries will not be able to address their development and

povert" reduction priorities unless the" reduce pollution, increase resilience to disasters,

promote cleaner energ", better manage forests and natural capital, create livable cities and

increase food securit"

&here is dire need for greater political wisdom to address polic" gaps and polic" should focus on

adoption of frameworks being developed globall"

 The writer is a public policy analyst and wor)s at the *ustainable +evelopment

"olicy Institute, Islamabad

 Note: The article first published in The Express Tribune. $bout these ads*hare this:

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This entry was poste! in Climate Change$ Environment$ 4oo! )ecurity$ 4orest

6anagement$ 5overnance$ 3ealth$overty$ )ustainable Development$ 7ater Issues an! tagge! Climate

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