The Earth Hour coincided with World Water Day this year. Both events highlight the grave dangers that climate change poses and the urgency of climate action to save nature. Pakistan, a developing country facing challenges on multiple fronts, is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Pakistan is also a water-stressed country and could become water-scarce in the future. While unmitigated climate change is going to affect us all, marginalised groups are at greater risk in the wake of climate-induced disasters. Therefore, climate action must be equitable and fair.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, in his statement on Earth Day, emphasized that every action strengthens collective momentum towards a sustainable tomorrow. It is important to note that these collective efforts must also engender collective good in line with the concept of just climate action. More importantly, climate initiatives must not exacerbate existing fault lines in the country. However, the recent dispute over the Green Pakistan initiative's adverse impact on the people of one province does not spell good for climate action in Pakistan. Due to the precarious position of Pakistan’s economy, climate action cannot become yet another apple of discord.

On 15th February, Green Pakistan Initiatives was inaugurated with the mission to ensure food security and improve agricultural productivity. Climate change is going to upend the current food system, thereby food insecurity is being foreseen. Climate variability has negatively impacted food security in Pakistan in reality, so policymakers must focus on climate-variability-related strategies for optimising problems related to food security. Climate-smart agriculture is said to be one way to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.

The Green Pakistan Initiative is about corporate farming and foreign investment so that barren land in the Cholistan desert area in the south of Punjab province can be turned into fertile agricultural land. The program promises to provide farmers with advanced facilities and machinery as well to meet its goal of poverty alleviation. The program encompasses three ventures: Green Agri Mall, Smart Agri Farm, and an Agri Research and Facilitation Centre. According to the program’s vision, precision agriculture techniques will also earn Pakistan carbon credits. However, things get tricky when it comes to the building of six canals on the Indus River to meet the water needs of irrigation in Cholistan. The program could raise the suspicion of green-washing due to a lack of inter-provincial consensus.

The distribution of water has remained a bone of contention for decades for two of the largest provinces of Pakistan, Punjab and Sindh. Both provinces largely depend on agriculture for their inhabitants’ livelihood, and therefore, the continuous flow of water is extremely crucial. Sindh blames Punjab for diverging the water flow to its agricultural fields, depriving the lower riparian region of its due share of water. While some may claim that it’s a part of political rhetoric, even the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has acknowledged that between 1999 and 2023, Sindh has lost 40% of water shortage compared to Punjab’s 15%. As a result of insufficient water supply, nearly 18 million agricultural land in Sindh remains unfarmed each year.

In addition to severely affecting agriculture in Sindh, inadequate supply of fresh water from the Indus disrupts the ecosystem along the Indus Delta. Mangrove forests, which are a source of livelihood for thousands of fishermen and save the country from natural calamities, are already threatened by lesser flow of freshwater from downstream Kotri Barrage, and any further divergence of water from Indus will further deteriorate the situation. The fishing industry in Pakistan contributes to 2.1% of the total agricultural produce, but in the last three decades, fish production in the delta has reduced by nearly 80%. There have been frequent seawater intrusions in the districts of Badin, Sujawal, and Thatta, and resultantly thousands of acres of land have become unavailable for agriculture. Besides that, migratory birds flying to the mangrove region and Haleji and Keenjhar lakes will lose their habitat.

It is estimated that the proposed Cholistan Canal project would ruin 12 million acres of agricultural land in Sindh. The project was embroiled in controversy even before its inauguration. Despite Sindh's dissent, the program was referred to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC). The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), along with other political parties, had declared their opposition to the building of canals on account of the risk of water shortage and unemployment of millions of farmers. Muhammad Ehsan Leghari, a representative of Sindh in IRSA, had registered his opposition to the program in the regulatory body. Despite the opposition, the program was launched without addressing Sindh’s concerns and without being approved by the Council of Common Interests.

After the inauguration, protests erupted all across the province over the disastrous impact this project could have on the people. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Jr., an environmentalist and politician, along with the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party, organised a protest on 1st March, in which the issue of people’s rights over their land and water was highlighted. On 4th March, students protested at Jamshoro University; the young protesters were dispersed by the police through tear gas and baton charging. The reaction against the canal construction is gaining momentum ever since and so much so that the ruling party in Sindh, PPP, has been continuously attempting to clarify that President Zardari did not approve the canal scheme even though several federal government sources have suggested otherwise.

In Sindh, particularly, the extent of opposition is perhaps as strong as that for Kalabagh Dam nearly two decades ago; civil society, professionals, students, lawyers, and women, amongst others, have continued recording their protests. Such a movement, specifically at this point, is more crucial to handle when the insurgent forces in Balochistan have persistently challenged the writ of the state. The hijacking incidence of Jaffar Express is being seen as a security and intelligence failure, and the wave of terrorism remains unabated, considering the ease with which the recent Quetta and Gwadar attacks were carried out. With all this happening and a deeply polarised society along with the ever-struggling economy, such challenges must be giving sleepless nights to the captain of the ship.

With such a backdrop, the federal government’s strong support for the GPI and the construction of canals on the Indus can only be more detrimental to the overall harmony between the provinces. Yes, corporate farming and attracting FDI should be every government’s priority to overcome the foreign exchange and economic challenges, but perhaps not at the cost of upsetting the people of the second-largest province of the country. Green Pakistan Initiative is also being marketed as an initiative focused on alleviating the country’s climate vulnerability. Climate change in Pakistan is real, and starting from frequent floods to poor air quality, it is not only affecting the health of the citizens but also causing severe financial losses. Pakistan must, therefore, address these issues through a whole-of-the-government approach, having all stakeholders onboard; in another case, even the advocacy for gravely concerning issues like climate change would get tainted.

Courtesy: The Friday Times, Pakistan

Climate Action Or Conflict? Green Pakistan Initiative Sparks Water Dispute Between Provinces