Pakistan’s Challenges of Climate

Change, Health and Nutrition in

the Context of Sustainable
Development Goals:
Strategies for Change.

The Aga Khan University, Karachi.

6th-7th March, 2022

Observations by
Senator (r) Javed Jabbar
www.javedjabbar.net. 1
Calamities of Change :

Challenges and Choices

for
Pakistan.

2
A calamity can be a single,
cataclysmic event –
or a long, excruciating
process.

Calamities
– global, regional, national.

3
Calamities of Change :

Climate :

Air.
Water.
Land.
Livelihoods.
Biodiversity.
Balance. 4
17 Sustainable Development
Goals.

232 indicators.
169 development targets.

5
Unanimous Resolution,
adopted by the
National Assembly of
Pakistan, 2016 adopting
SDGs as National
Development Agenda –
and commitment to the
2030 global Agenda.
6
 Calamities of Change :

Phenomenal advance in
connectivity :
175 million cellphones in a
population of 220 million.

Phenomenal stagnation in data :

To monitor selected social
indicators of SDGs,
data available for only 33 out of
81 indicators. 7
 Calamities of Change :

Phenomenal population
growth at 2.4% per annum
gives Pakistan highest rate of
all major Muslim countries
and South Asia.

8
 Calamities of Change :

Unprecedented increase in
information and simultaniety
– outpacing absorptive
capacity and attention spans.

9
 Calamities of Change :

The global surrender to the

market economy, resource
depletion and consumption-
production.
“Killing me / us softly”.

10
 Calamities of Change :

Parallel emergence of
unprecedented structures of
inter-state relations – global,
regional, bilateral –
as well as frequent, often
unpredictable violations by
hegemons.
11
 Calamities of Change :

Unprecedented
improvements in health,
education and income
indicators – accompanied by
increases in diabetes,
obesity, hypertension,
depression, et al.
12
 Calamities of Change :

Expansion of the political

process accompanied by
ossified electoral systems
that make democratic
institutions non-
representative and stoke
grievance as well as apathy.
13
 Calamities of Change :

Multiplication of media – old

and new, mass and singular –
in which news media thrive
on morosia and hysteria, on
advertising, and on dumbing
down content.
14
Strategies for Change :

Political.
Professional.
Societal.

15
 Strategies for Change :

Political.
Structural reforms needed
post-18th Amendment to
ensure cohesion between
Centre & 4 Provinces,
2 regions
eg. Population Department’s
integration with Health. 16
 Strategies for Change :

Political.
Apply a larger, holistic
conceptual framework
beyond tree- planting to
reiterate nexus between
climate change, health,
nutrition, population growth
and sustainable development. 17
 Strategies for Change :

Political.
Presentation of an Annual
Green Budget – by the
Ministers of Finance – in
Parliament and the
Provincial Assemblies one
day before the Annual
Finance Budget. 18
 Strategies for Change :

Professional.
Enhanced activism &
advocacy by
eg. PMA, through extensive
internal cooperation and
cross-disciplinary
interaction.
19
 Strategies for Change :

Professional.
Enhanced funding by
individual practitioners and
by corporations / institutions
– including pharma firms ! –
to strengthen associations
and enable robust advocacy.
20
 Strategies for Change :

Professional.
Enhanced focus by the
Health sector on preventive
care and self-care through
required changes in
curriculum, communication
and public discourse.
21
 Strategies for Change :

Societal.
Increased coordination and
actions between civil society
forums, NGOs related to
environment, health,
education sectors eg.
members of PNC-IUCN.
22
 Strategies for Change :

Societal.
Increased time, space,
content in state and
independent, private media,
digital media platforms with
increased support from the
commercial / corporate
sectors – to advance public
23
education.
 Strategies for Change :

Societal.
Change behaviour.
The citizen. We. Me.
Accept personal
responsibility. Because the
buck starts and stops here.
24
 “If we want change for the
better – should we not begin
with oneself ?”.

25
 Pakistan has a
demonstrated capacity
for excellence :

Individuals.
People.
Institutions.
26
Thank you…

for staying awake.

27