By Maleha Afzal 

Climate change and environmental destruction are not just confined to distorted weather patterns and but it has much more attached to it. As we go deeper into the topic, we begin to understand the root causes of climate change in Pakistan.

 Pakistan has the 21st largest road network in the world, consequently leading to a massive amount of deforestation. Pakistan, a highly agrarian economy that accounts for around 42% of the labour force, has met a loss in incomes due to a fall in the quality of crops, attributed to deforestation and soil erosion.

Moreover, carbon emissions have increased by three times since 1990, mainly due to a 20% increase in the use of motor vehicles and fuel consumption. This has not only led to disrupted rain patterns affecting agriculture but has also given birth to various respiratory and skin diseases. Furthermore, frequent droughts/floods have left people homeless and vulnerable to commit crimes to make a living.

These reasons combined have not only ignited stress on the health sector but have brought about an inefficient allocation of the budget. In addition to this, a lack of technological services and awareness has made production less efficient and environmentally unfriendly. Thus, the government is pressured to incentivize the workforce to a greater extent to account for any losses.

Our mother earth has given us enough reasons to make our living worthwhile but are we doing enough for it in return? Not only for us, but we need to make a difference for the future that lies ahead of us and for the generations to come!