Environment in Pakistan
ENVIRONMENT
I. Introduction
Pakistan and other developing countries around the world are increasingly becoming conscious of the fact that, the pursuit of growth and development places a heavy burden on sustainability for now and for the foreseeable future. Development, sans environmental aspects is counter productive in sustaining the pace of progress. The Government of Pakistan believes in the creation of opportunities for the present generation without compromising on the potential of future generations to meet their developmental needs. This notion is easy to define but difficult to implement.
Environmental degradation is fundamentally linked to poverty in Pakistan. Approximately less than one-fourth of the country’s population, like in most developing countries, is poor and directly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods—whether agriculture, hunting, forestry, fisheries, etc. Poverty combined with a rapidly increasing population and growing urbanization, is leading to intense pressures on the environment. This environment-poverty nexus cannot be ignored if effective and practical solutions to remedy environmental hazards are to be taken. In Pakistan, the deterioration of environment continues to affect livelihoods and health thus increasing the vulnerability of the poor to disasters and environment-related conflicts. The current cost of environmental degradation is considerably high. According to a recent assessment made by the World Bank (WB)1, the cost of environmental neglect and degradation to the economy has amounted to Rs. 365 billion during the current year.
Biodiversity in Pakistan is also under serious threat due to excessive depletion of natural resources.
1 Pakistan: Strategic Country Environment Assessment by WB (Sep, 2007)
The latest red-list of endangered species in
Pakistan, released by the World Conservation
Union (IUCN), includes the Blue Whale, Fin
Whale, Hotson's Mouse-like Hamster,
I. Introduction
Pakistan and other developing countries around the world are increasingly becoming conscious of the fact that, the pursuit of growth and development places a heavy burden on sustainability for now and for the foreseeable future. Development, sans environmental aspects is counter productive in sustaining the pace of progress. The Government of Pakistan believes in the creation of opportunities for the present generation without compromising on the potential of future generations to meet their developmental needs. This notion is easy to define but difficult to implement.
Environmental degradation is fundamentally linked to poverty in Pakistan. Approximately less than one-fourth of the country’s population, like in most developing countries, is poor and directly dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods—whether agriculture, hunting, forestry, fisheries, etc. Poverty combined with a rapidly increasing population and growing urbanization, is leading to intense pressures on the environment. This environment-poverty nexus cannot be ignored if effective and practical solutions to remedy environmental hazards are to be taken. In Pakistan, the deterioration of environment continues to affect livelihoods and health thus increasing the vulnerability of the poor to disasters and environment-related conflicts. The current cost of environmental degradation is considerably high. According to a recent assessment made by the World Bank (WB)1, the cost of environmental neglect and degradation to the economy has amounted to Rs. 365 billion during the current year.
Biodiversity in Pakistan is also under serious threat due to excessive depletion of natural resources.
1 Pakistan: Strategic Country Environment Assessment by WB (Sep, 2007)
The latest red-list of endangered species in
Pakistan, released by the World Conservation
Union (IUCN), includes the Blue Whale, Fin
Whale, Hotson's Mouse-like Hamster,