Climate Change
Climate change is no longer a future threat for Pakistan. It is a present reality that communities across the country are already livingwith, in the form of devastating floods, prolonged droughts, glacial lake outburst floods, erratic rainfall, extreme heat, and the slow erosion of the natural systems that millions of people depend on for their survival. Pakistan contributes very little to global carbon emissions yet consistently ranks among the countries most exposed to climate impacts. That fundamental injustice shapes how IDRAC thinks about and engages with climate change.
Our approach to climate change is grounded in the understanding that it is not only an environmental issue. It is a development issue, a social justice issue, and increasingly a humanitarian one. The communities most affected by climate change in Pakistan are almost always the ones with the least resources to adapt, the least political voice to demand support, and the leasthistorical responsibility for the conditions they now face. Our work tries to keep that reality at the centre.
We engage with climate change across several dimensions. We support communities in understanding and responding to the climate risks they face, working on issues of hazard awareness, adaptive livelihoods, natural resource management, and community resilience. We also work at the institutional and policy level, supporting government bodies, civil society organisations, and development practitioners in integrating climate risk into their planning, programming, and advocacy. We believe that effective climate action requires both local knowledge and systemic change, and that the two must be pursued together rather than in isolation from each other.
We are also attentive to the human dimensions of climate change that do not always receive enough attention, including the displacement of communities, the loss of cultural landscapes and traditional livelihoods, the particular vulnerabilities of women and children, and the mental and social toll that repeated climate shocks take on communities over time. Climate change is reshaping life in Pakistan in profound ways, and our work tries to engage with that honestly and practically.