Pakistan: 'While Karachi remains at risk, its machinery is unprepared for climate change'

Karachi cannot deal with existing climate risks, let alone those that could strike it in the future, was one of the direr messages delivered at a seminar, Climate change adaptation strategy for Karachi — a roadmap, as reported by The Express Tribune.

Urban planners warned that the national climate change policy doesn’t take urban areas into consideration. Experts expressed their concern about the vulnerability of the settlements in the low lying areas and called for increased. Poor communities, including women and children are at risk.

“Focus areas have to be identified. There is still not a single flood plain map for Karachi which can then help turn into a risk zone map,” said Farhan Anwar from Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment. He added that “the outcome of successful adaptation is resilience – and is a product of governments, civil society organisations, households and individuals with strong adaptive capacity.”