By Nadia Mushtaque
Climate change is no longer a distant environmental concern for Pakistan; it is now a lived national emergency shaping daily life, public health and economic survival. From devastating floods and prolonged droughts to lethal heatwaves and worsening air pollution, the country has become one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable states despite contributing only a fraction of global carbon emissions. The consequences are already visible across cities, villages and agricultural landscapes, where millions of people are struggling against environmental conditions growing harsher with each passing year.
Pakistan’s climatic structure makes the crisis even more dangerous. The country lies within a monsoon regime, meaning summer rainfall patterns determine agricultural productivity, water availability and economic stability. Climate change, however, has disrupted these cycles. Rainfall has become increasingly erratic, arriving either in destructive bursts that trigger catastrophic flooding or failing altogether, leaving regions exposed to drought and crop failure. The economic cost has been staggering. Climate-related disasters in recent years caused losses estimated at nearly $30bn, while declining agricultural production further intensified food insecurity and inflation. Air pollution alone has contributed to more than 128,000 deaths, turning environmental degradation into one of the country’s gravest public health crises.
Nowhere are these realities more sharply visible than in Karachi, a sprawling megacity where climate stress collides with unchecked urbanisation. Karachi was once defined by its coastal winds and comparatively moderate climate, but rapid deforestation, unregulated construction and shrinking green spaces have transformed much of the city into a concrete heat trap. The sea breeze that once provided relief now often carries humid and suffocating heat instead of comfort. Green belts continue to disappear beneath roads, commercial projects and residential expansion, while rising temperatures intensify the urban heat island effect.
The deadly heatwave of June 2015 remains one of the clearest warnings in the city’s recent history. More than 1,500 residents lost their lives during days of unbearable temperatures and widespread power shortages. Hospitals overflowed, morgues reached capacity and vulnerable communities suffered the most. For many Karachiites, the tragedy marked a turning point in public awareness about climate change and environmental neglect. Since then, plantation drives have become increasingly common across the city, promoted by governments, corporations, non-governmental organisations and volunteer groups as visible responses to ecological decline.
Large-scale initiatives such as the million-tree plantation campaigns generated optimism and encouraged participation from multiple sectors, including the armed forces, private companies and environmental organisations such as WWF Pakistan and International Union for Conservation of Nature. Vacant plots, roadside green belts and public spaces were selected for tree planting, often accompanied by publicity campaigns and ceremonial launches. These efforts undoubtedly raised awareness and, in some areas, improved urban greenery. Yet the broader environmental picture remains deeply troubling.
Satellite-based land-use and land-cover assessments indicate that Karachi’s overall vegetation cover continues to decline despite years of plantation campaigns. The city’s green cover has reportedly fallen from around 6% to nearly 4%, revealing the scale of ongoing ecological degradation. This contradiction exposes a difficult but necessary truth: tree plantation drives alone cannot succeed without long-term planning, ecological understanding and institutional accountability.
The central weakness of many plantation campaigns lies not in planting trees, but in failing to sustain them. Too often, such initiatives are treated as symbolic one-day events. Saplings are planted, photographs are taken and public statements are issued, yet within weeks many of the young trees begin to die from neglect. Karachi’s climate is unforgiving, particularly during summer months when extreme heat and limited rainfall place enormous stress on fragile saplings. Without regular watering, soil management and protection from human and animal damage, survival rates remain dangerously low.
A tree cannot survive through symbolism alone. Like a child, it requires care, protection and patience during its early years. Yet post-plantation monitoring remains weak or entirely absent in many projects. There is often no irrigation strategy, no community stewardship and no mechanism to track survival rates. Young trees are left vulnerable to theft, trampling, traffic damage and dehydration. In some cases, inappropriate species are planted without consideration for Karachi’s biodiversity, soil conditions or water scarcity, reducing ecological benefits while increasing maintenance burdens.
Karachi’s environmental future cannot depend on temporary campaigns or seasonal enthusiasm. The city needs sustained ecological restoration combined with better urban planning, water management and pollution control. Trees alone will not solve climate change, but without them the crisis will become even more severe. The true success of any plantation drive is not the number of saplings placed into the ground for a photograph. It is the number of trees still standing years later, providing shade, absorbing carbon, cooling streets and sustaining life. Pakistan’s climate struggle demands more than gestures. It requires responsibility, continuity and collective ownership. In the end, protecting a tree may also mean protecting the future itself.
(The writer is a Karachi-based environmentalist continuously creating awareness regarding the ongoing climate change and Pakistan’s vulnerability. She can be reached at editorial@metro-Morning.com)
