United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the international community, while addressing the UN General Assembly in September 2023, to help Pakistan recover from catastrophic floods in 2022, calling it a “litmus test for climate justice.” Devastating historic floods in 2022 paralyzed From the northernmost region, Gilgit-Baltistan, to the southern coast of Pakistan, floods washed away everything and caused huge economic and human losses. The unprecedented flood resulted in over 1500 causalities and a financial loss of over $30 billion to Pakistan. About 33 million people were affected and one-third of the country was under water.
The floods displaced about 8 million people in Pakistan. Pakistan’s northernmost and most vulnerable region to climate change and more prone to climate hazards, Gilgit Baltistan, covers an area of 72,496 sq. km. with around 2.5 million people and lies in the extreme north of Pakistan. The region undergoes harsh and chilly winters, which test locals’ patience against harsh winters under resource scarcity like an inferior supply of electricity for the consecutive 6 to 8 months from the start of winter to the end of spring. Gilgit-Baltistan nestles the world’s adventurous snow-capped mountains and meadows that attract millions of tourists from all over the world toward Gilgit-Baltistan. The increase in adventure, recreation, and eco-tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan helps local people to generate revenues and support their livelihood. According to a Government of Gilgit-Baltistan survey, more than half of GB’s population is reliant on the tourism industry. GB shares its border with the Xingjian region of China to the east and northeast, Azad Kashmir to the south, Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Laddakh to the southeast, and the Wakhan border of Afghanistan to the north. The diverse topography and geo-strategic significance make GB a center of attraction.
Gilgit-Baltistan Environmental Protection Agency (GB-EPA), Government of Gilgit-Baltistan released a 19-page document titled “Gilgit-Baltistan Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan (GB-CCAAP)—2023” with the overarching objectives of reducing the vulnerability of people, livelihoods, physical assets, and natural systems to the adverse effects of climate change, strengthening institutional and technical capacities, integrating climate change adaptation into relevant policies, plans, and associated processes, promoting climate-related research, and knowledge dissemination to facilitate informed decision-making and advocacy. In the strategic action under GB-CCAAP 2023, the road maps have been drawn to implement the policies.
The GB government aims to address the grave challenge of climate change faced by people living there at the Fora like the United Nations in light of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to which Pakistan is also a contracting party and Pakistan should launch “climate action diplomacy” at the international Fora. The climate change catastrophes in Gilgit-Baltistan have been daily headlines during the summer when flash floods and Glacier Lake outburst incidents occur, leaving no one unhurt on their way, damaging public assets, and causing a huge loss to the economy. In the year 2022, the historic flood caused 17 casualties and many injuries.
Floods in 2023 also paralyzed society and yet again projected the inefficiency of the GB government and federal government to respond timely and help vulnerable people to transfer to safer places in high mountains under extremely hard circumstances. People living alongside the river asked to remain vigilant and left at the mercy of self-help and local community coordination. High floods in various nullahs in the Skardu, Ghanche, and Shigar districts also caused considerable damage in 2023. The Juglot-Skardu Road was blocked after landslides in the Roundu area. Heavy floods in nullahs at Duro Kariko of Skardu damaged thousands of trees, cultivated land, and crops. Important infrastructures come in the way of flash floods, resulting in destruction and irreparable losses. Strategic roads in GB like KKH and Juglot Skardu Road are mostly affected and blocked, while thousands of commuters, including supply-chain vehicles, are left stranded due to unpredicted or sudden roadblocks by flash floods and landslides due to heavy rainfall and snow.
GB-CCAAP 2023 unveils the strategic plan to function under a coordinated system among government institutions during pre- and post-climate change catastrophes. The ‘whole-of-government approach’ comes under public backlash, as during any natural calamity, the local communities are the ones who respond first by utilizing all their traditional methods to save their community members. Many incidents have occurred where, after hours of any natural calamity, any government department arrived at the location and astonishing facts are that locals are more trained to fight and survive against those calamities than people hired by the government to rescue people and inform them of safety in times of climate crisis. The only lacking tools for locals are technical support and modern tools that are used in crisis times.
GB-CCAAP 2023 includes strengthening climate finance by enhancing institutional capacities, strengthening linkages, and improving coordination. However, climate finance is still equal to none as the region only gets support in times of any natural calamity by federal grants approved by the Prime Minister, which is again reflecting GB’s complete reliance on the federal for even small-scale projects. The big grants, foreign aid, and non-governmental financial supports face a lack of transparency and mechanisms to finance the victims of climate change. GB has no revenue structure through which the region could quickly respond to any natural calamity and support climate-affected people financially. Monitoring to strengthen environmental compliance and implement programs to strengthen the capacity of civil society and grass-roots-level organizations is yet again a major claim and strategic action that needs actions on the ground.
A UNICEF report discloses a climate knowledge survey among students in Pakistan, according to which 27% of respondents in Pakistan reported that they could explain climate change, 55% of respondents in Pakistan stated that they “very often or often” learned about climate change in school, and 16% of respondents in Pakistan reported that they “never” learned about climate change in school. If this is the situation in our educational institutions, imagine those illiterate and uneducated people; it yet again raises grave concerns. Preserving local fruit varieties, sustainable cropping, agro-economic practices, fish conservation, and illegal hunting of fish are the strategic actions plan under GB-CAAP-2023, but these measures and agendas are restricted to paperwork and offices; rather, no implementation is being witnessed. Livestock diseases are major growing concerns for locals whose livelihoods are dependent upon their livestock. The lack of medical facilities to treat livestock and protect them from viral diseases is thwarting GB’s way forward toward a resilient future in the agriculture and livestock economy.
GB has a total geographical area of 7.04 million hectares, dominated by mountains (34%) and natural rangelands (46%), followed by natural forest (3.58%). The afforestation under the historic ten billion tree tsunami by the Government of Pakistan is pivotal to revolutionizing forest areas in Gilgit-Baltistan. In the forest department of Gilgit-Baltistan, dynamic and capable officers like Chief Conservator Forest, Parks, and Wildlife GB, Dr. Zakir Hussain, and his team have been key to bringing revolutionary measures to protect and extend forest area in Gilgit-Baltistan, including growing forest in Hotu valley in Skardu. Amidst intense soil erosion and the threat of being washed away by Indus, flood bunds have been aligned on the high ridge of the natural banks of the Indus river, and such committed and vibrant public office bearers are taking personal interests to grow more forest area in GB. In wildlife protection and population growth across GB, the Wildlife Department GB has been efficiently working and utilizing all available resources through which wildlife in GB is conserved; however, lack of modern technologies to facilitate wildlife monitoring and protection, wildlife in GB undergoes huge risk and danger of illegal hunting and often becomes victims to climate change incidents like flash floods, destruction of natural habitat and extremely changing weather patterns that risk wildlife in GB. Trophy hunting of Markhor, Blue Sheep, and Ibex is permissible in Gilgit Baltistan (Pakistan), subject to such rules and regulations as are provided in the Gilgit Baltistan Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation, and Management) Act, 1975.
Gilgit-Baltistan Trophy hunting season 2023-24 ended in April, and official sources disclosed that more than Rs309 million in revenue was generated during the season to protect and balance wildlife conservation with sustainable economic development. These measures are taken and promoted to ensure balanced wildlife conservation for greater economic goals without any considerable harm to wildlife. However, the region has no other energy source to face harsh winters, and forest plants support domestic purposes like cooking, construction, the furniture industry, and artistic works like wood craving; hence, forest plants are cut and the forest area Gilgit-Baltistan is under huge threat of getting vanished for multiple reasons. It is high time to wake up and ensure sustainable and sufficient energy sources for GB, like exploring more avenues for hydropower projects and solar projects so that locals’ dependence on forest plants could be reduced to zero.
Gilgit-Baltistan Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan lacks implementation procedures and local communities are made irrelevant in the action plan. Mass awareness is still mandatory for such an action plan, despite what the action plan document states under the title “Awareness-raising and advocacy” objective 4.1. In GB-CCAAP 2023. Locals are actual subject matter; without having the consent of locals and making locals aware of such action plans, the outcomes of such action plans prove uncertain and nullified.
The Author, Naveed Akhtar, is an Independent Researcher.
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