Clearly, climate change is a threat to our planet and our well-being. Climate change affects the lives of everyone around the world no matter how much they contribute to the problem. Pakistan is also unique in this context and has been ranked among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It is listed as the 38th ‘most vulnerable’ country and the 32nd ‘least vulnerable’ in the world to deal with the effects of climate change. In 2021, the UK Met office reported that in Pakistan, approximately one million people will be at risk of coastal flooding annually by 2070 to 2100 if adaptation measures are not taken.
Dealing with climate change
The country has recorded evidence of floods caused by weather, drought, heat waves, and rising cases of infection over the years. Evidence shows that 40% of Pakistani households affected by food insecurity have worsened by 2020 due to climate change. Dealing with climate change and protecting the planet, protecting the coastal environment and carbon offset solutions will be crucial. Blue carbon is the carbon absorbed by the sea and coastal ecosystems, and often covers mangroves, wetlands and sea grass vegetation, which plays a key role in reducing coastal erosion and sea level rise, combating global climate problems by absorbing carbon, nourishing the earth and biodiversity. , and support human well-being.
Protecting the coastal environment is very important in preventing climate change as it protects coastal communities from its harmful effects, such as rising sea levels and floods. It also provides important habitats for marine animals. Pakistan is endowed with a unique coastal environment. There are two coastal regions in Pakistan — Sindh and Balochistan, and Sindh is the seventh-largest natural mangrove forest in the world.
These natural systems have great potential for capturing and storing large amounts of CO2, thus providing costly ‘blue carbon’ solutions to the world. On a global scale, blue carbon is increasingly recognized as a key factor in the transformation of the green economy
Pakistan weather forecast action
Pakistan recognizes the effects of climate change and the importance of protecting the coastal ecosystem. Sponsored by PROBLUE, a rapid exploration of blue carbon highlights the fact that Pakistan’s mangrove forests have a storage capacity of about 20 million tons of living carbon. They also have the opportunity to produce an additional 25 million tons of carbon by 2050, if efforts by the coastal provinces to achieve the goal of restoring 350,000 hectares of mangrove forests, Pakistan are set to reintroduce under the REDD + (Reduce Heat) project. from Deforestation and Deforestation + Conservation + conservation (mgmt., carbon), which aims to reduce deforestation and deforestation, and to promote conservation, sustainable forest management, and the development of forest carbon stocks.
Encouraged by the findings of the study, the Pakistani government incorporates blue carbon bonds into the revised Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, presented at COP 26 in Glasgow in November 2021.
Future opportunities and challenges
As blue carbon can be a good development tool for raw, capable, and inclusive Pakistani development, rapid exploration prioritizes two sets of key recommendations to improve the blue carbon ecosystem and help the country achieve its climate change goals and economic development.
The first set of recommendations for research and community outreach, which includes consolidating blue carbon-related data and data collection and integrating climate change and disaster risk management plans across all planning decisions. It will also help better understand where and how to reduce the risk of floods and erosion, improve water and air quality, and enhance livelihood opportunities by creating a breeding ground for fish, aquaculture, and natural tourism. It is also important that Pakistan focuses on mapping and monitoring its blue carbon environments over time, updating the national greenhouse gas list to include blue carbon ecosystems, preparing NDC accounting systems, collecting basic data, and evaluating key pressures on blue carbon ecosystem and others.
The second set of recommendations is to continue the use of blue carbon in Pakistan, which includes reviewing and improving institutional planning, continuous performance in capacity building, improvement in climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, and seeking alternative resources and funding options.
Pakistan’s blue carbon environment is important, when it comes to combating climate change, food security and livelihoods, and protecting coastal communities from rising sea levels, hurricanes and floods. The protection and development of these ecosystems is essential to achieving the mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement. Rapid exploration sets the road to Pakistan to protect its carbon ecosystem for the benefit of present and future generations.
For more read: https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/pakistans-coastal-ecosystem-and-opportunities-tackle-climate-change
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