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Divisional disparities on climate change adaptation and mitigation in Punjab, Pakistan: local perceptions, vulnerabilities, and policy implications

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Abstract

Climate change is a global challenge faced by everyone, but the developing countries are highly vulnerable to variations in the environment. This research focuses on the Punjab province of Pakistan and evaluates the impacts and consequences of climate change on general public at local and divisional level. In order to cope with the impacts of climatic changes at all levels, especially divisional level, raising reliable awareness and dispersing actionable knowledge regarding mitigating and adapting measures is significantly important. Therefore, recognition of information gaps, improvements in the level of alertness, and development of preventive measures in each sector is imperative. The impacts of climate change are observed across the country through gradual increase in temperature, human health issues, pest diseases, droughts, floods, and irregular weather patterns leading to changes in lifestyles, and these issues are likely to continue in the future. The main cause of climate change in Punjab, Pakistan, can be attributed to excessive release of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere due to human activities involving inefficient energy usage, rapid urban expansion, improper waste management, industrial development, increasing transportation, agricultural activities, and livestock mismanagement. The findings of this study revealed that transportation sector is the major source of GHG emissions in the country, followed by industrialization and waste, at national, as well as divisional, level. The extent of impacts of climate change at divisional level is distinguishable and displayed a direct relationship with climate, geography, variation of effects, and modes of production in various regions of Punjab. The study strategically investigated all nine divisions of the province for comprehensive understanding of climate change phenomenon, and the results indicated that nearly three-fourths of the respondents have never indulged in taking steps towards climate change mitigation and adaptation. The study adopted a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) approach where the findings can act as set of guidelines for governmental authorities in formulating, assisting in preparation, instructing, and guiding policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation at national, local, and divisional levels.

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Acknowledgments

We also greatly appreciate the efforts of Professor Dr. Fazal-e-Aleem, Dr. Munir Ahmed, Dr. Mudassir, Mr. Aftar Ali, Mr. Salman Ijaz, Ms. Rabia Aslam, Mr. Sarfraz Ahmad, Mr. Sheraz Ahmed Khan, Mr. Imran, Mr. Inam-ul-Haq, and Usman Ghani for the data collection; Mr. Fahad Asmi and Mr. Azfar Anwar for their help in data analysis; and Mr. Sarfraz Ahmad for his assistance in writing.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41672144) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (WK2080000103). Support was also provided by the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) for the CAS-Young Scientist Award (2018FYB0002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, People’s Republic of China

    Mudassar Hussain

  2. School of Public Affairs, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, People’s Republic of China

    Mudassar Hussain & Abdul Rahman Butt

  3. Research Group for Climate Change adaptation, Department of Environmental Science, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Punjab, 54000, Pakistan

    Mudassar Hussain

  4. Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at the Microscale, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Faiza Uzma

  5. Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Faiza Uzma

  6. CAS Key Laboratory of Crust-Mantle Materials and the Environments, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, People’s Republic of China

    Rafay Ahmed, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Ubaid Ali, Habib Ullah & Balal Yousaf

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  1. Mudassar Hussain
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Correspondence to Balal Yousaf.

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Hussain, M., Butt, A.R., Uzma, F. et al. Divisional disparities on climate change adaptation and mitigation in Punjab, Pakistan: local perceptions, vulnerabilities, and policy implications. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26, 31491–31507 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06262-z

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