Islamabad:The government officials, researchers, experts and civil society representatives have called upon the government to declare Glacial Emergency in northern areas, and promote quality tourism to reduce carbon emission to contain glacial melt.
They were participating in a consultation on “Glacier Adaptation Plan for Gilgit-Baltistan” organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here Tuesday. Zakir Hussain, Director-General, Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority, said GB faces serious risks from flash floods, glacial lake outburst floods and landslides. He stressed the need for better aligning climate adaptation with disaster risk reduction strategies.
He added that protective retaining walls were constructed in vulnerable areas to safeguard farmland, livestock and settlements from Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) impacts, while slope stabilisation through plantation initiatives is underway. He said around 180 early warning installations are operational, though only 16 valleys are currently covered across GB’s 72,000 square km.
He further identified the absence of a comprehensive socioeconomic framework for addressing climate vulnerability as a key policy gap. Talha Bhatti from Institute of Regional Studies (IRS) said Pakistan’s glacier belt extends between elevations of 2,500 and 8,000 metres with the most critical melt activity occurring between 4,500 and 5,500 metres.
He proposed that Pakistan consider declaring a glacier emergency covering about 4,000 to 5,000 square km of vulnerable glacier zones. He also stressed the need for upstream-to-downstream governance coordination across river basins affected by glacier melt.
Zainab Naeem at SDPI describing the Hindukush–Karakoram–Himalaya (HKH) region as the “Third Pole,” highlighted its importance as a freshwater source for South Asia. “Glacier mass reductions could reach between 22 and 44 per cent under low-emission scenarios and up to 57 per cent under high-emission pathways by 2100,” she said adding that locally-driven adaptation strategies already exist within mountain communities but require policy support and resources to scale up. She also highlighted the importance of reducing black carbon emissions from wood-based cooking in remote settlements.
Khadim Hussain, a representative of Gilgit-Baltistan government, emphasised the importance of recognising indigenous knowledge of glacier-dependent communities as a core component of scientific understanding.
