PAKISTAN is staring climate change in the face, and mitigating its fallout is arguably an even more urgent battle than winning the fight against corruption. As per the most recent rankings on the Climate Global Risk Index, Pakistan comes in eighth among the countries most impacted by climate change between 2000 and 2019.
On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the spring plantation 2021 campaign that covers 51 Miyawaki urban forest sites in Lahore, with the first such forest being planted in Jilani park. On the occasion, Mr Khan exhorted his fellow Pakistanis to join his government’s countrywide 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme to help cut down smog and reverse environmental pollution. Speaking of Lahore, the premier said that one consequence of the city’s expansion in all directions was that it had lost 70pc of its forest cover. The urban forest campaign’s slogan “Plant before it’s too late” captures the urgency of the situation.