Pakistan's second-most populous province recently unveiled plans to lead the country in environmental policy.
As the Minute Mirror reported, Sindh province, home to Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, aims to cut its heat-trapping pollution by 50% by 2030. The Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC-3) policy is a bold agenda that will be funded partly by provincial resources and through international partnerships.
NDC-3 works toward this ambitious goal by phasing out diesel public transport, promoting electric vehicles, and restoring natural carbon sinks. Business Recorder noted that plans include restoring its mangroves, increasing forest cover by 150%, and extending legal protection to over 100,000 hectares of woodlands.
There are also plans to clamp down on polluting industries that contribute to the country's awful air quality. Karachi ranks 15th in the world for the worst air quality. Another Pakistani city, Lahore, has the unwanted distinction of ranking first among the worst on IQ'Air's global rankings.
Despite being the fifth-most populous country in the world, Pakistan is not a significant contributor to rising global temperatures (less than 1%). However, Pakistan is among the most vulnerable nations on Earth to extreme weather events, which are becoming ever more frequent and severe. According to a 2019 study on climate vulnerability, Pakistan ranked eighth. Flooding is one of the most significant risks the country faces, affecting about 15% of the population.
Part of it is from unusually heavy seasonal rainfall, the other from melting glaciers in the mountains of the north. If that wasn't enough, Pakistan is also one of the hottest countries in the world. Extreme summer heat of up to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) is now considered the "new normal" in Pakistan and northern India.
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Pakistan is a nation with a vast population and limited resources, yet officials are taking decisive action nonetheless. The story demonstrates the importance of backing candidates who take environmental issues seriously. Of course, climate promises are much easier to make than to keep, but the severity of the situation requires a suitably urgent response.
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