Prioritizing environmental protection
In our obsession with political news, we often forget the more pressing issues that confront the quality of life in Pakistan. Climate change, air pollution, water scarcity, coal-based power plants,…
Environmental degradation
There is the Cerrejon thermal coal mine in Colombia -- jointly owned by Glencore and two other transnational companies, BHP and Anglo American -- whose expansion over the past 40…
Infrastructure development: Environmental impact
The role of infrastructure impacting economic growth and welfare has been studied across literature intensely during the past three decades. The post-World War II, reconstruction gave us a model where…
What kind of development?
Pakistan’s urban expansion has long been framed as a sign of progress. High-rise apartments rise where farmland once stood, and gated housing schemes stretch across city peripheries. Yet behind the…
The drowning of a treaty
For the first time in history, India has been accused of weaponizing climate change—not with bombs or missiles, but through silence, data withholding, and river manipulation. In the catastrophic floods…
Governing AI
PAKISTAN’S National Artificial Intelligence Policy, 2025, was approved by the federal cabinet on July 31, 2025, as a six-pillar roadmap to build an AI ecosystem. This is a welcome step considering the increasing…
Climate-smart investment
The devastating urban floods that Pakistan has witnessed in recent years are no longer isolated events that can be dismissed as seasonal misfortune. They are symptoms of a deeper malaise…
‘Cold Start’ for collaboration
THE Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) is the subject of many ongoing discussions these days. A variety of opinions are being shared by people looking at the treaty through different lens. However, the…
Inclusive agriculture
Pakistan’s underperforming agricultural sector employs approximately 39 per cent of the workforce and contributes 24 per cent to the national GDP, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2023-24. Despite its…
The climate cost of urban misplanning
“The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. Whatever he does to the web of life, he does to himself." – Chief Seattle (Native American leader).…
