The Globalization Bulletin Climate Change January 2019 NEWS COVERAGE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 21ST TO JANUARY 27TH 2019 PRCS TO CREATE AWARENESS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE RECORDER REPORT January 26, 2019 LAHORE: Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in collaboration with the German Red Cross is initiating country-wide awareness drive for raising awareness about threats associated with the climate change. Chairman Pakistan Red Crescent Society Dr Saeed Elahi said this while speaking at a workshop organized by the Pakistan Red Crescent Punjab at a two-day capacity enhancement session under its climate change adaptation programme in Lahore. The speakers and experts who convened the technical sessions covered the basic climate science, the environmental problems faced by Punjab, local adaptation measures, Pakistan’s climate governance, advocacy and campaigning, youth for volunteerism and green entrepreneurship in their modules. Dr Saeed Elahi highlighted that the brunt of global climatic change is being faced by Pakistan being the 7th most vulnerable country of the world and immediate adaptation initiatives should be initiated to address the issue with all stakeholders across all tiers and levels. Provincial Chairman Pakistan Red Crescent Punjab Lt Gen Khalid Maqbool (R) in his address said the youth needed to play a key role in creating awareness about impact of climate change. The representative from German Red Cross encouraged the participants of the workshop, to replicate the trainings with their immediate social circle and assured full assistance in supporting their local climate advocacy campaigns. https://epaper.brecorder.com/2019/01/26/5-page/760313-news.html SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA HEATWAVE SMASHES RECORD TEMPERATURES AFP Updated January 25, 2019 ADELAIDE: Temperatures in southern Australia topped 49 degrees on Thursday, shattering previous records as heat-stressed bats fell from trees. The Bureau of Meteorology reported temperatures of 49.5 Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) north of Adelaide, while inside the city temperatures reached 47.7 Celsius, breaking a record that had stood since 1939. More than 13 towns across South Australia have smashed their own heat records. The state’s health authorities early Thursday reported that 44 people had received emergency treatment for heat-related illnesses in the past 24 hours. “Remember to check on elderly friends, relatives and neighbours, and those who are unwell,” the state emergency services tweeted. The Globalization Bulletin Climate Change Health authorities were also forced to issue a public warning to avoid contact with hundreds of heat- stressed bats falling from trees in parkland areas. Authorities in central Australia said they had to cull more than 50 feral horses, after they found 90 dead or dying wild brumbies near a dried-up water hole. Shocking images of dozens of dead horses strewn across the dry ground began to circulate on social media this week. “With climate change well and truly upon us, we expect these emergencies to occur with increasing frequency and nobody is truly prepared and resourced to respond to them,” David Ross, director of indigenous representative body the Central Land Council, said in a statement. Emergency services are on the alert as more than 13 districts are under threat of possible bushfires. Meanwhile, a total fire ban was issued further south in the island state of Tasmania, where authorities continued to battle blazes. The soaring temperatures follow a heatwave last week that saw Australian towns among the hottest places on Earth. Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2019 https://www.dawn.com/news/1459672/southern-australia-heatwave-smashes-record-temperatures NEWS COVERAGE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 14TH TO JANUARY 20TH 2019 CAN CLIMATE CHANGE PAKISTAN? Ali Tauqeer Sheikh January 20, 2019 The climate beast is hitting Pakistan far more often and at far too many places than we know: extreme climate events have become a regular phenomenon. The heatwave that took more than 1,200 lives in Karachi only two years ago has since been visiting us with greater frequency and intensity. At 50.4oC, Nawabshah in Sindh recorded in April 2018 the highest temperature ever recorded globally. Floods and hydro-disasters since 2010 — when 20 million Pakistanis were directly affected — have become an annual feature. Riverine communities routinely get wiped away without even a mention by media. And if it is not the floods, the calamity of drought is afflicting misery in Tharpakar and several other regions particularly in Balochistan. In one end of the country we are fast losing our coastline to seawater intrusion, while at the other, glaciers are fast melting, resulting in permanent reductions in water flows in our rivers. With the changing cropping calendar, and more erratic and unpredictable monsoon season, Pakistan’s food insecurity is also under increasing threat of climate change. The swelling unpredictability in river flows has made planning for hydro-energy much more difficult and unreliable. As environmental degradation takes place, livelihood options shrink, forcing people to migrate to cities in search of economic opportunities. Climate-induced migration has already made Pakistan one of the most urbanised counties in South Asia. A World Bank report, Pakistan’s Hotspots — The Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards, released in July 2018, claims that by 2050, annual average temperatures are projected to increase to 2.5°C under the climate ‘sensitive scenario’ (which represents a future in The Globalization Bulletin Climate Change which some collective action is taken to limit greenhouse gas emissions) and up 3.0°C under the carbon ‘intensive scenario’ (in which no serious actions are taken). Approximately 49 million, or 25 percent of Pakistan’s total population, lives in locations that will become ‘moderate hotspots’ by 2050 under the carbon intensive scenario. Containing the temperature is essential to prevent major areas of Pakistan from becoming uninhabitable in a future not too far away. The impact from global climate change has the potential to threaten our security as well. But in order to meet the challenges, the country will first have to learn how to negotiate and follow words with action… Climate change poses a serious threat to the living standards of the vast population of Pakistan. The report further indicates Sindh province as the most vulnerable hotspot. With a GDP per capita of US $1,400, Sindh is the second-largest economy of Pakistan and contributes 30 percent to the national GDP. Its economy is highly diversified, ranging from heavy industry and finance centred in and around Karachi to a substantial agricultural base along the Indus River. Changes in precipitation and temperature threaten to impede the future growth of this region. According to the report, Hyderabad district in Sindh emerges as the top hotspot, followed by Mirpur Khas and Sukkur districts. The second most vulnerable hotspot is the densely populated province of Punjab. Punjab has the largest economy, contributing 53.3 percent to Pakistan’s GDP, and is known for its relative prosperity with the lowest poverty rate of all the provinces. However, its wealth is unevenly distributed, with the northern portion being relatively well off economically and the southern portion being one of the most impoverished areas in the country. Long-term climate vulnerability thus carries implications for both shared prosperity and poverty reduction of this province. Interestingly, some of the most densely populated cities — including Lahore, Multan, and Faisalabad — emerge among the top 10 hotspot districts. This indicates the importance for preparing not only the more impoverished areas for the adverse effects of climate change, but also protecting the economic hubs of the province. With a limited and fast-closing window of opportunity to tackle this global challenge, it is more important now for Pakistan to engage in global climate change discourse and accordingly adjust its development agenda. There is no better place than international climate negotiations to learn what’s really at stake for us and our society. The world climate has changed fundamentally since the Earth Summit that was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1991 where the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) was adopted, together with two other conventions — the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and Convention on Combating Desertification (CCD). Both CBD and CCD stand, but the thrust of their work now focusses on mitigating the adverse impacts of climate change. The UNFCC has emerged as the centrepiece of global action on climate and development, or climate compatible development, through the annual Conference of the Parties, or the COP as it is generally called now. The COPs offer the most important platform for global climate negotiations in which thousands of experts and interested stakeholders congregate to negotiate ways and means to managing the threats of climate challenge. The participants organise tens of dozens of parallel or side events that bring diverse institutions and individuals together on a wide range of issues that have a bearing on, or are impacted by, climate change — such as the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Sendai Framework, private-sector engagement, or involving women, youth, minorities, district and city governments and others in the development discourse. The COPs have become an annual global festival where partnerships are forged, alliances formalised,