Climate change expected to increase Pakistan's exposure to floods: experts.

ISLAMABAD -- Climate change is expected to increase Pakistan's exposure to destructive floods.

The country has already been through a large number of floods in the last few decades, including the two mega-floods of 2010 and 2022.

This was highlighted by experts during a workshop organised by the Embassy of the Netherlands on flood resilience in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives. Ahsan Iqbal, minister of planning, was chief guest at the workshop.

Last year's flood caused massive loss of human lives, property and infrastructure; one third of the country was submerged in water. The Netherlands has experienced extreme flooding, including in 1953, when the dikes in the Dutch province of Zeeland breached, killing almost 2,000 people and leaving 100,000 people homeless. Pakistan, at that time, sent help to support the Dutch.

Propose long-term collaboration with the Netherlands

Following the floods, Pakistan asked the Netherlands to provide technical assistance for flood and water management. The mission visited the affected areas in Sindh and Balochistan and prepared a report for a long-term mitigation of extreme events such as the floods. The workshop was based on the findings of the Dutch Risk Reduction (DRR) team with recommendations to reduce the risk of water related disasters in Pakistan.

Henny de Vries, ambassador of the Netherlands, said: 'The Ministry of Climate Change in Pakistan approached the embassy to ask for our advice on strategic future-oriented measures for flood management. As you know, with one third of the Netherlands lying below sea level, we do have a lot of experience in Integrated Water Resources Management, including in policy and implementation of flood management and flood resilience efforts.'

She added: 'In response to the request, a Dutch team of experts was deployed within the context of the Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) and the Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Framework.

I strongly believe that the disastrous floods of 2022 offer a unique opportunity for reflection and growth for the Pakistani water sector.

I hope that this workshop will assist Pakistan to achieve her goals...