ISLAMABAD (special crosspondent) – Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday urged every district across the country to establish dedicated “green channels” for climate change and flood-related infrastructure projects. He emphasized that these specialized administrative pathways are essential to ensure the swift approval of initiatives and the guarantee of sustained funding, highlighting the urgent necessity for robust institutional preparedness to mitigate the escalating impacts of climate-induced disasters.

“We are living right through the eye of climate change,” the minister remarked, while warning that Pakistan must adopt a proactive, whole-of-government strategy to minimize both human and economic losses resulting from increasingly frequent extreme weather events. The minister made these remarks while speaking to the media during his visit to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), following a comprehensive briefing on the prevailing flood situation across the country.

The planning minister was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Musadik Malik, Minister for Water Resources Mian Muhammad Mueen Wattoo, Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar. The cabinet’s collective presence underscored the administration’s focus on crisis management, particularly as the government reviews its strategic preparedness to navigate various national challenges.

Ahsan Iqbal observed that Pakistan has faced recurring climate-related crises, including devastating floods in 2022 and 2025, while this year the nation has grappled with extreme temperatures and localized cloudbursts that have triggered flash floods, landslides, and urban inundation. He described Pakistan as one of the world’s five most vulnerable countries to climate change, despite contributing less than one per cent to total global greenhouse gas emissions.

The minister confirmed that the government had initiated coordinated preparedness measures well ahead of the current monsoon season. On the directives of Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, an inter-ministerial emergency response committee was formed two months ago to monitor emerging threats, facilitate coordination with provincial governments and the Provincial Disaster Management Authorities (PDMAs), and ensure timely readiness. While the committee initially convened on a weekly basis, it has transitioned to daily meetings to assess the evolving flood situation and reinforce the national response.

Providing the latest figures, the minister reported that 109 individuals have lost their lives, with approximately 360 others injured in weather-related incidents nationwide. He noted that nearly 57 per cent of these fatalities were caused by the collapse of houses, walls, and structural failures rather than direct flooding, stressing the urgent need to improve national building standards and resilience.

Despite the inevitability of extreme weather, the minister maintained that effective planning and timely response could drastically mitigate casualties. He highlighted that the NDMA’s capacity has steadily improved, enabling efficient rescue operations that have helped keep human losses lower than during previous large-scale disasters. He added that the government is currently strengthening glacier monitoring systems and collaborating with China to promote climate-resilient agriculture, particularly through the development of crop varieties capable of withstanding shifting environmental conditions.

The Ministry of Water Resources is also accelerating work on critical infrastructure, including the Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand dams, to enhance water storage capacity and reduce long-term flood risks. Concurrently, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is prioritizing the timely dissemination of public advisories. Ahsan Iqbal concluded by reiterating the necessity of empowering district administrations, emphasizing that effective disaster management and essential public service delivery remain contingent upon the strength of local governance.