Pakistan will be facing absolute shortage of water by 2025 due to climate change and massive fluctuations in patterns of severe weather conditions.

This was the crux of a discussion among the climate experts held at the National Press Club, here on Saturday. Among other experts, Khan Faraz from Peshawar informed media that the country is not among the countries largely contributing towards carbon emissions but it has to take steps to keep itself within the desired limit over the coming years.

He said Pakistan crossed the line of water-stressed country in 1990 and that of the water-scarce country in 2005. The unchanged situation would lead to an absolute shortage of water in 2025 leading to disaster.

In view of the above, the water-intensive production system in agricultural and industrial sectors must be transformed into water-smart systems. Therefore, the government, academia, parliamentarians, and civil society organisations need to play collective and collaborative role in this regard.

Besides, the expanded timeline of dengue cases in 2021 is one of the key impacts of climate change on health.

Moreover, the rising trend of erratic rains challenges agricultural production and the monsoon season witnessed 41 percent above average rainfall, whereas, 2021 saw nine percent below average rains.

Thus, it is suggested a climate emergency to ensure a focused response against the challenges. Also, the coordination system should be developed among all the stakeholders for collective planning, implementation and monitoring, the experts added.

This story was first published in Business Recorder on March 6, 2022.