For decades, Gilgit-Baltistan has been described as Pakistan’s ‘water tower’. It is a phrase repeated in official reports, academic papers and policy discussions, yet rarely has it translated into meaningful institutional action. That may finally be changing.
The Gilgit-Baltistan government’s decision to establish the Gilgit-Baltistan Glacier Protection Authority (GBGPA) is one of the most significant climate policy initiatives undertaken in Pakistan in recent years and deserves recognition not merely as a regional administrative reform but as a strategic investment in the future of water, food and energy security for millions of people.
Home to more than 13,000 glaciers covering nearly 13,550 square kilometres, Gilgit-Baltistan possesses the largest concentration of glacial ice outside the polar regions. These glaciers feed the mighty Indus River, sustaining Pakistan’s agriculture, generating a substantial share of its hydropower and supplying drinking water to millions. Without these frozen reservoirs, Pakistan’s economy – and indeed its survival – would be unimaginable.
Yet this natural wealth is disappearing before our eyes. Climate change has accelerated glacier melt across the Himalaya-Karakoram-Hindukush region. Rising temperatures, shrinking ice masses, expanding glacial lakes and increasingly frequent Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) are no longer distant scientific projections. They have become annual realities for mountain communities.
Every summer brings new stories of flash floods sweeping away homes, roads, bridges and livelihoods. Villages in Gilgit-Baltistan repeatedly find themselves on the frontlines of a climate crisis they did little to create.
This is perhaps the greatest injustice. The people of Gilgit-Baltistan contribute only a negligible fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet they are among the first to suffer the consequences of global warming. Their glaciers are melting because of emissions produced thousands of kilometres away.
That is why the establishment of the Glacier Protection Authority carries significance beyond Pakistan’s borders. The authority promises scientific glacier monitoring, comprehensive mapping, early-warning systems, disaster-risk reduction, climate research and improved access to international climate finance. These are precisely the kinds of institutional mechanisms climate experts have advocated for years.
But no regional government can shoulder this burden alone. Protecting the glaciers of Gilgit-Baltistan is a shared global obligation. These glaciers are part of one of the world’s most important high-mountain water systems. They influence regional hydrology, ecosystems and climate resilience across South Asia. Their preservation serves humanity’s collective interest.
The developed world, whose industrialisation has contributed disproportionately to global warming, has both a moral and practical responsibility to assist. Climate finance must move beyond promises made at international conferences and reach mountain communities where adaptation is urgently needed.
International organisations, donor agencies, climate research institutions and development partners should seize this opportunity to support the new authority through funding, technical expertise, satellite monitoring, scientific collaboration and capacity building.
Success will not be measured merely by the creation of another government institution. It will be measured by healthier glaciers, safer mountain communities, stronger disaster preparedness and a more secure future for the generations that depend on the waters flowing from these peaks.
The glaciers of Gilgit-Baltistan are part of the planet’s climate heritage and protecting them is an investment in our shared future.
The writer is a journalist and former spokesperson for the Gilgit-Baltistan government.
