ISLAMABAD: During
the last decade, Pakistan’s economy has been facing an economic crisis and
instability, and has failed to achieve sustainable development and bring people
out of poverty. Economic policies are being formulated without considering environmental
issues, energy security, food security and water security, which in turn is
resulting in a severe energy crisis, food insecurity, water scarcity and
climate change.
According
to the Environmental Assessment Report 2006 of the World Bank, Pakistan bears a
cost of around Rs249 billion per year due to environmental degradation and
damage. A recent Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) report on
multidimensional poverty revealed that one-third of households live below the
poverty line, which means that 58.7 million Pakistanis are deprived of basic
necessities.
In
addition to these, the SDPI report suggests that 48.6% – almost half – of the
population is food-insecure. It is estimated that these figures may have grown
10% immediately after the 2010 floods.
From
the experience of Pakistan and other developing countries, it can be inferred
that the “period of high economic growth occurred at the expense of
macroeconomic stability, but it did not produce the desired outcome with regard
to poverty reduction in a sustainable manner.” This poses some questions: for
example, how can we make growth more inclusive? How can we ensure that the
dividend of growth is accessible to a large segment of the population? How can
policymakers stimulate market-led growth while protecting the environment and
vulnerable segments of society?
Pakistan
had a growth rate of 3.7% in 2011-12. With this level of growth, it cannot meet
its challenges in the near future. It is lagging far behind its neighbours, such
as India and China, who are growing at high rates of 5.2% and 7.9%
respectively. There is a huge gap in revenue and expenditure as well.
The
country needs to move towards a ‘green economy’ and development, because the
current economic model has no capacity to protect the environment and future
generations.
Of
course, Pakistan, which has a very low position in the GHG emission index, has
the opportunity to shield itself from huge losses and damages from climate
change if it adopts a green production mechanism.
In
order to ensure food security in the short as well as the long term, there is
an urgent need to shift towards sustainable agricultural practices, including
integrated water management to ensure sustainable rural development, including
investment in sustainable agriculture, support for small and landless farmers,
especially women farmers, and integrated rural development programmes.
As
Pakistan is the most urbanised country in South Asia, the government should
undertake reforms and policies for sustainable urban development, including
urban design, land use management, vertical development to limit urban sprawl,
definition of city limits, sustainable transport systems based on public
transport instead of proliferation of private transport, sustainable waste
management, energy-efficient building designs and good governance.
The
writer is a public policy analyst and consultant at the Sustainable Development
Policy Institute Islamabad
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