Page 62 - CMA Journal (Nov-Dec 2025)

Reimagining Pakistan’s Future: Economic
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Renewal along with Climate Resilience

Pakistan today faces profound challenges of national the IPCC and global
identity and sovereignty. Since independence, successive climate governance
governments have sought economic and strategic support was first institutional-
from external powers, initially Washington and Moscow, ized through the
later Beijing, and during and after the Afghan War, Riyadh, National Climate
thereby undermining national sovereignty. These Change Policy in
structural vulnerabilities have been further aggravated by 2012, focused on (i)
climate pressures. Development economists across Adaptation (disaster
ideological traditions concur that unequal global risk reduction,
development functions as a mechanism of influence agriculture, water), (ii)
across the Global South, perpetuating dependency and Mitigation (renew-
constraining sovereign policy choices. ables, energy efficien-
cy), and (iii) Capacity
Every nation has its own fundamental dynamics, trivialities
and Achilles’ heel. However, it is fundamentally shaped by the building. Pakistan
availability and effective integration of material resources, submitted its Nation- Prof. Dr. Abdul
labor, capital, management capacity, technological ally Determined Waheed Bhutto
capability, entrepreneurship, and natural resources. Contributions (NDCs)
following IPCC Advisor to the Vice Chancellor
At the time of independence, Pakistan was a fundamentally guidance. The 2021 Dawood University of
agrarian economy. Over time, the economy shifted toward a Updated NDC set a Engineering and Technology
services-led economy. The current economy comprises target of 50% reduc-
about 23.5% agriculture, 17.7% industry, and 58.4% services. tion from projected (DUET), Karachi
However, this transition occurred without deep emissions by 2030,
industrialization and productivity growth. It created a conditional upon (i) ~15% from domestic resources and
structural disconnect in the economy. (ii) ~35% dependent on international climate finance. The
country also pledged to shift to 60% renewable energy,
Now, bringing coherence to economic resources requires a
new vision. A vision that can rationalize the strategic 30% electric vehicles, and to ban new coal fired power
instincts of the soldier, the entrepreneurial capacity of the imports (with limited domestic coal exceptions).
businessperson, and the ecological wisdom long practiced However, grassroots society’s response to climate
by local communities. A new egalitarian society with vulnerability requires a deep understanding of the country’s
foundations in indigenous resources and self-reliance, historical development, industrial trajectory, alongside a
strengthening regional cooperation, and advancing climate clear appreciation of its present demographic, social,
strategies rooted in local priorities, equity, and the cultural, and economic structures. Only with such ground
devolution of powers to local administration. realities, Pakistan can undertake a realistic assessment of
current challenges and articulate a vision that integrates
Although the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) was established by the UN in 1988 to assess climate climate adaptation with economic renewal, guided by the
science and advise governments, it was the UN Earth principles of ecological harmony that have sustained
Summit (Rio) in 1992 and the creation of the UN Frame- indigenous communities for centuries.
work Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), when the Pakistan’s Industrial Development Since
slogans of climate change reached mass audiences. The
global response to global climate change started evolving. Independence
The global focus shifted toward investment in renewable At the time of independence in 1947, Pakistan was an
energy, cleaner production processes, sustainable finance, agrarian economy with a limited industrial base. The
and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) aligned financial institutions of the country were yet to become
governance models. fully independent. On 1 July 1948, Quaid-e-Azam
In the early 2000s, Pakistan began to formally acknowl- Muhammad Ali Jinnah inaugurated the State Bank of
edge climate change as a national policy concern. The Pakistan with a drive for the country’s financial sovereignty.
country appeared among the world’s most climate In his speech, he urged that Pakistan’s banking and
vulnerable countries despite contributing less than 1% of economic systems be shaped by its own social and
global greenhouse gas emissions. Pakistan’s response to economic realities rather than following foreign models.

ICMA’s Chartered Management Accountant, Nov-Dec 2025