By Ms. Sunaina Riaz 13 June 2023
Pakistan is one of the countries facing the worst consequences of climate change, despite not making significant contributions to global warming. This alarming situation has resulted in chaos and unpredictable disasters. However, the main factor sustaining the harmful effects of climate change is climate migration. When displaced individuals move towards urban areas, the consequences they face are often worse than those who caused their displacement. This phenomenon of climate migration is predicted to affect 2 million people by 2050, which is unimaginable considering the multidimensional issues it can cause within weak and unstable governance.
This piece aims to highlight the challenges arising from the internally displaced people of Balochistan and Sindh due to the consequences of climate change. These individuals have migrated to different areas, giving rise to new challenges and numerous multidimensional threats. Additionally, the statistics regarding future climate migrants are expected to rise as well as the country is considered one of the largest displaced but here the most affected provinces will have a high share of the rising number, which poses a highly threatening situation if not addressed promptly.
Climate change has become a global focal point, with a primary agenda for this era. Resolving this issue of is crucial as it is interconnected with the prosperity of other developmental and peace-related goals worldwide. Addressing the consequences of climate change requires a range of actions from the leadership of any state within its socioeconomic framework. These issues cannot be effectively tackled without a stable economic status.
The ongoing economic crisis exacerbates every emerging issue. Climate change is deeply intertwined with grassroots factors in Pakistan, as evidenced by the irreparable consequences of the disastrous floods in 2022. The floods led to numerous sub-crises, with climate migration being one of the most harmful factors.
This phenomenon contributes to the emergence of other issues caused by the long-term effects of climate change. This factor creates hurdles for states with weak management policies related to internally displaced persons (IDP) management. In Pakistan, we can witness the high impacts of climate migration specifically in the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh.
In 2022, Pakistan faced a climate crisis, and two of its provinces, Sindh and Balochistan were significantly affected. Balochistan experienced rainfall five times higher than the 30-year average, while Sindh faced rainfall three times higher. Floods covered the areas of Sindh and eastern Balochistan, leading to the migration of displaced people towards urban areas. This excessive rainfall resulted in severe flooding, particularly affecting rural areas in these provinces. The destruction caused by the floods was not confined to a specific area but had a widespread impact on the entire region over time.
Even though, these specific provinces and their rural and urban areas were among the hardest hit. A total of 33 million people in Pakistan were affected by these floods. Infrastructure also suffered extensive damage, with 2 million houses being damaged and 26% of total bridges and infrastructure affected by floods. Livestock faced unprecedented consequences, with a reported 928,000 affected animals in both Sindh and Balochistan, according to the Pakistan Floods Affected report. Furthermore, food insecurity issues were recorded as 3.9 million and 1.6 million in Balochistan and Sindh, respectively, making them the highest affected areas. Water scarcity also became a pressing issue as the floods damaged drinking water sources, which accounted for 36% of the total drinking water. Migration is a core issue due to its far-reaching consequences. Changes. As a result, they migrate towards urban areas in search of food, shelter, and employment. However, in these urban areas, we witness even more chaos.
Climate migration is estimated to be a number that is as alarming as its deepening connections with other social issues. Understanding climate migration and its consequences in the two provinces, particularly Sindh and Balochistan, requires examining the 2022 floods that affected these regions. The vast rural population, heavily dependent on agriculture and daily wages faced life-threatening situations. However, this migration cycle created a multitude of problems.
As a result of the floods, 200,000 people were internally displaced and migrated from Sindh and Balochistan to other areas. This number includes only those people who were displaced by the floods, but other environmental changes can also cause migration. For instance, droughts in Pakistan are projected to displace 600,000 people by 2030, and without taking action, this number is expected to reach 620,000.
The first issue we encounter due to migration is the overpopulated urban areas. The recent census reveals a recorded increase of 25 million in the population of Pakistan, with urban areas experiencing high population densities. This situation poses another significant threat in the context of climate migration because, without stable policies, the first consequence we witness is poverty. According to the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA), between 8.4 million to 9.1 million people may be pushed below the poverty line. Addressing this increase in poverty requires a stable economic situation for such a large population.
Moreover, the urbanization rate is increasing by 3% annually, which is considered the fastest in South Asia. According to predictions, 50% of the population will be living in urban areas by 2050. This extreme urbanization automatically leads to resource scarcity as the migrated population in urban areas will face the same lack of necessities.
Considering the situation from another perspective, public health becomes a major concern in this scenario. As we witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan, especially its urban areas, was at high risk. Now, with the added threat of climate change, we can predict the consequences we will face. The larger the unmanageable population, the higher the pollution and the risk of diseases, whether due to the shortage of drinking water or the increase in pollution, projected to reach 60% by 2050. Climate migration is not a timely crisis this is a major issue requires careful consideration by governmental authorities. The sooner we understand the multidimensional consequences, the earlier we can establish effective policies and implement strategies. Dealing with disasters requires stable economic systems, but the funds and aid received from the international community can be utilized to address them, this would be an effective way but here the role of governance is primary. But apart from that some other recommended ways to mitigate the climate migration Consequence. The very important and initial factor to tackle climate migration is to concentrate on climate-resilient infrastructure this can be constructed for the climate migrants in the suburban areas of big cities. Where most of the migrants are routed. And to control routes as well with respect to province. Another factor is the policies that adapted modern technologies for dealing with disasters through which we can overcome the effects by fast reaching and rescuing more people. Also by creating a stable structure to regain the loss of farmers’ community and agricultural sector. This can only be possible through modern technological tools that will help them to rebuild their lands.