Executive Summary
Pakistan is listed amongst the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. Due to its location at the mouth of the River Indus, lower Sindh is at an elevated risk. The provincial capital of Sindh (Karachi) is particularly vulnerable due to its large population, high inflow of migrants, huge slum areas, and unplanned development. Just over a hundred kilometers east of Karachi, Thatta is also significantly vulnerable due to its relationship with the coastal belt of the Arabian Sea and the Indus Delta.
Decades of poor urban planning and the rampant threat of climate change pose a massive risk to Thatta and Karachi, who at present are woefully unprepared for a climate catastrophe. Karachi and Thatta represent a ground zero from where a framework for urban climate change resilience can be built, and therefore can provide comparative examples to tackle climate change globally.
This study documents local perceptions and expectations of various stakeholders to learn about vulnerability and mitigation related to climate change and urban resilience in Karachi and Thatta. It identifies evidence based policy gaps, issues, and impact of climate change in both coastal and urban populations. Ultimately, this research develops a framework for technical support on policy formulation and suggests intervention mechanisms for creating urban resilience.
Mixed method approach has been employed for data collection, detailed field surveys were conducted between August-October 2022 with 417 respondents in Thatta and Karachi. Additionally 30 in-depth interviews were conducted and 4 focus groups were also held. The research population represented 60.4% males, 38.6% females, and 2% Transgenders.
The study shows that the general population of Karachi and Thatta lack awareness about climate change issues, causes, and their solutions. A dearth of political will further exacerbates the problem, since the conflict of interest between different political parties causes negligence towards climate change. The lack of implementation of policies related to climate change and urban resilience in Pakistan is another problem. Due to limited access to basic necessities, lower-classes are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Unsurprisingly then, the results of this study show that levels of urban resilience are low. There is a need for institutions that can provide accessible information and data about climate change, its threats, responses, and solutions towards mitigating the effects of climate change. This study finds that actions taken by individuals and government agencies are reactive rather than proactive, and there is a need of sensitization, organization, and ownership of Karachi and Thatta by their communities and structures of governance.
Based on our findings we suggest a framework towards urban resilience that requires improved governance and the integrated role of public offices, civil society organizations, and local communities, NDMA, PDMA and DDMA. Developing urban resilience must be taken seriously by all stakeholders at each level, and not solely as an emergency response. There is also a need to develop social networking related to urban resilience, alongside a database that provides easy access at district, town, taluka and Union Council level that includes all relevant data and resource information. Islamic Relief Pakistan can play a vital role in implementing this framework.
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Acknowledgement: Islamic Relief, Relief Web
