Given the impending climate disaster, the global commitment is shared to limit carbon emission which affects the world, and especially the vulnerable in countries around the world. Pakistan is one among 10 vulnerable countries in the world is significantly prone to climate change impacts.
Like Himalayan glaciers, the glaciers in the north which encompass Chitral are melting increasingly, and flash floods (GLOFs) have added to wide damages to houses, croplands, orchards, forests, water channels, water supply systems, roads, power stations and transmission lines, and river-course-diversions and outflows to land erosions in different places across Chitral.
Part of its global commitment to limit carbon emission, Pakistan—contributes less than 1pc of it, pledges to have clean energy by 60pc and 30pc electric vehicle by 2030, and planting 10bn trees to stave off the worst effects of climate change.
As has been for many years the initiative of many organizations and environmental activists, the royal couples of the UK visited last year also to draw attention to “spectacular” glaciers melting in the area have caused catastrophes to the people living in many valleys in Chitral, and creating awareness about climate change. This natural phenomenon could be mitigated by lessening those factors which accelerate concentration of carbon, and evolving environmental impact on our ecosystem.
Part of the commitment, Pakistan has made, is to switch from carbon-based energy to clean energy, and planting 10bn trees in the country is a huge task but indeed paying. By protecting the existing natural forest cover, the forestation drive should have started much before this season, but it is as it was before.
The ‘collectives’ are ideal places to be effectively used for forestation. And alternating wood as fuel with clean energy provision is indispensable but not possible without government. Water-stress is another phenomenon that may take a huge cost as the melting of glaciers continue unabated.
It must be an urgent matter of concern both national and local level in Chitral to push for the protection of natural vegetations, starting forestation in collectives, alternating wood as a fuel, and letting natural recycling of damages caused from human activities. This could be successful not without the support of the government to provide clean energy provisions, providing saplings for forestation, letting collectives got forested and natural recycling of our ecosystem.