DAWN Editorials - 9th february2025

[faheemustad]

Race against time

SOME of the foremost authorities on environmental issues converged in Islamabad this past week to talk about the urgent nature of the climate crisis in Pakistan. Alongside these experts at DawnMedia’s Breathe Pakistan conference, policymakers and jurists, too, laid out both the scale of the challenge and the action required to surmount it.

Pakistan faces what Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah calls a “dual injustice” — bearing a disproportionate burden of climate impacts while lacking the structural capacity to respond. The conference’s outcomes were sobering. Pakistan needs $40-50bn annually until 2050 for climate adaptation, yet current flows amount to barely one-eighth of that.


The World Bank’s climate chief, Valerie Hickey, highlighted that while 70pc of global climate finance goes to mitigation, Pakistan’s pressing need is adaptation. More concerning still, less than 20pc of total climate finance reaches the Global South, where it is needed most.

Some bright spots emerged. Punjab has allocated Rs100bn for climate resilience and Rs10bn specifically for smog mitigation. KP’s forests serve as a carbon sink, removing half of Pakistan’s carbon emissions. The centre’s Uraan Pakistan initiative promises to integrate climate resilience into energy and development planning. But these efforts, while laudable, are dwarfed by the scale of the challenge. The outcome of inaction is already visible. We lost 97 school days to climate disruptions in 2023-24.

The Indus, Pakistan’s lifeline, is now the world’s second-most plastic-polluted river. Air pollution alone causes 128,000 deaths annually, reducing life expectancy by 3.9 years and costing the economy billions. By 2050, nearly half of Pakistan’s agricultural land could become unsuitable for farming.

The conference crystallised three imperatives. First, climate finance must be restructured. The finance minister’s call for more predictable, flexible, and grant-based support reflects the frustration with current mechanisms. Second, regional cooperation is essential. Pakistan’s initiative to engage with India on transboundary air pollution is a promising start. Third, domestic resource mobilisation must improve; we cannot wait for foreign help while our glaciers melt and crops fail.


The path is clear, if daunting. We must streamline our climate governance, implement the Climate Change Act’s delayed provisions, and create promised institutions like the climate change authority. The private sector must be better incentivised to help find climate solutions.

The media also has a vital role. By shifting from disaster reporting to solutions-oriented journalism, it can engage the public and hold policymakers accountable. It must also break down the jargon that often hinders effective climate communication. The conference has shown the way. The question is whether the country can summon the political will — both local and international — and resources to follow it.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2025


Open door

THE door is still open for talks, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq has reminded the PTI. What matters, however, is the mood in the opposition camp. Key opposition leaders agreed this past week on the common agenda of seeking fresh elections. Their meeting created enough of a stir that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took it upon himself to visit JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, bouquet in hand, at the latter’s residence. Though the details of their discussion were not formally shared, a few media outlets reported that the maulana had spoken his mind. It seems pertinent to mention here that the JUI-F chief recently publicly reiterated a demand for fresh elections, describing the option as the only solution to Pakistan’s crisis. The opposition seems upset with the high-handedness on display by the ruling parties, especially after the enactment of a slew of legislation aimed at solidifying their grip on power. There appears to be a growing realisation that a concerted pushback may be necessary, which could lead to a showdown.

Though the PTI may be tempted to take the confrontational path once again, especially if it feels the rest of the opposition may also rally around it, it is worth giving the offered talks a chance. The previous round of negotiations was called off too abruptly and prematurely by the PTI side, apparently because the party’s leadership sensed the government was not serious about forming judicial commissions to probe the Nov 26, 2024, and May 9, 2023, incidents. Now, the prime minister is inviting the party back and has offered a commission to investigate both the 2018 and 2024 general elections, which does not seem like a bad idea. Indeed, with the incarcerated PTI chief also pushing for politics to be left to politicians, this may be a good time for a dispassionate inquiry into how non-democratic forces prevailed over the last two elections. Ordinary voters deserve to know how they have been wronged. Such a commission could uncover the injustices suffered by the various political parties, provide them catharsis and closure, and prompt an honest discussion among the civilian stakeholders on how the country should move on. If both sides can cede some space on each other’s demands, they will be off to a good start.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2025


Football suspension

ONCE again, Pakistan has been ousted from the global football family. FIFA recently suspended the Pakistan Football Federation, for the third time since 2017, stating that the suspension would not be lifted unless the PFF Congress accepted the constitutional amendments tabled by it. With this move, FIFA also extended the mandate of the PFF Normalisation Committee, due to end on Feb 15, till July 31. The rejection of the amendments to the PFF constitution, according to FIFA, hindered the holding of free and fair presidential elections. The PFF, mired in crises since 2015 and under a FIFA-elected NC since September 2019, seemed to be finally headed towards an elected set-up following polls at lower levels — until its suspension. FIFA’s argument centres on the fact that the current PFF constitution limits the pool of potential candidates.

However, FIFA’s move to add a partial revision of the constitution to the mandate of the PFF NC came only last year, and was not disclosed until only a few months ago, when officials of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation held a review workshop with the PFF Congress. When appointing the NC over five years ago, it had stated that the elected body would make the constitutional amendments. Congress members — who came in after winning elections at the provincial level — have every right to feel aggrieved; their argument is that opening up the election means a person who lost polls at the lower level can still run for PFF presidency. FIFA also has not kept its part of the bargain. It had planned meetings with government officials before tabling the proposed amendments. The meetings never took place. PFF NC chairman Haroon Malik has appealed to MNAs to help convince the congress to accept the amendments. A meeting between FIFA and the government would not only ease the situation but also end the normalisation process for an elected set-up at the helm of the PFF.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2025