Disaster Resilience: Generic Overview and Pakistan Context

Abstract

Pakistan is one of the most vulnerable countries facing the risk of climate change, despite contributing very little to the global greenhouse gas emissions. The 2010 Global Climate Risk Index of Germanwatch ranked it first among some 180 nations of the world. The country's vulnerabilities are high due to heavy dependence of its economy on agriculture, which is highly climate sensitive; water supply of its rivers from the Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalayan glaciers, which are reported to be receding due to global warming; and increased risks to its coastal areas (particularly to Karachi, its largest city and the hub of its industrial activity and international trade) and the Indus deltaic region due to sea level rise and increasing cyclonic activity. Compounding the problems are the extreme weather events, which have enhanced in their frequency and intensity in the country. An analysis of data from 52 meteorological stations in Pakistan over a 40-year period (1961-2000) shows that the frequency of highest daily temperature and heaviest rainfall events have increased by the passing decades. Moreover, at the turn of the century, the country experienced the worst drought of its history and in the first decade of the twenty-first century saw several extreme weather events including the history's worst flood in 2010. In terms of risks, climate change poses a major threat to all dimensions of sustainable development, economic, social as well as environmental. It is likely to have widespread impacts across various sectors and ecosystems such as food, water and energy; forests and biodiversity; coastal and marine environment; as well as on the occurrence and intensity of climate related hazards such as floods and droughts. This Chapter examines first the climate variability trends that Indicate continuous warming. It then evaluates vulnerabilities and risks posed by climate change, which are increasing with time particularly in terms of enhanced climate related hazards. Finally, it analyzes the key approaches and measures that have been adopted to reduce the risks posed by climate change.