Climate Action in Focus: TKF and SMIU Discuss Sindh’s Environmental Crisis
The Knowledge Forum (TKF), in collaboration with Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU), organised a seminar titled “Climate Risks and Challenges in Sindh: Regional Vulnerabilities, Emissions Control, and Institutional Strategies for Sustainable Action” at SMIU, Karachi, on June 11, 2025.
The seminar brought together environmentalists, academics, policymakers, and community activists to discuss the urgent threats posed by climate change, with a special focus on the rapidly deteriorating Indus Delta. Speakers highlighted how reduced freshwater flows in the River Indus have led to widespread land erosion, sea intrusion, loss of agricultural productivity, and depletion of fish stocks, putting immense pressure on local communities and biodiversity.
Participants called for climate-resilient development strategies, legal protections to secure freshwater flows, and institutional reforms to prevent further ecological damage. Representatives from WWF, Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, and TKF shared alarming data on land loss, rising sea levels, and the decline of mangrove forests.
The event underscored the need for collective action and policy reform to safeguard the livelihoods of coastal communities and build a sustainable, climate-resilient future for Sindh.
Ali Anjum of WWF underscored the crisis, noting that the delta, home to Asia’s seventh-largest mangrove forests, is facing massive losses due to unchecked sea intrusion, overexploitation of forests, urban land reclamation, and escalating coastal pollution. He warned that the shrinking freshwater supply is intensifying flood risk, land erosion, and the collapse of traditional livelihoods.
Fatima Majeed of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum reported a sharp drop in fish stocks and mangrove cover, with many fish species now extinct and new mangrove plantations failing due to insufficient freshwater.
Ms. Zeenia Shaukat, Director of the TKF, explained about the NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), which are climate action plans developed by individual countries as part of their commitment under the Paris Agreement (2015) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Each country sets its targets and updates them every five years, aiming to increase ambition over time.
Dean, Department of Social and Development Studies Dr. Jamshed Adil Halepoto, stressed the need to tackle the environmental challenges effectively.
Dr. Subhash, Chairman of the Department of Social and Development of SMIU, in his opening remarks, emphasised that Pakistan is grappling with severe climate change challenges, with the Indus Delta among the worst affected. Dr. Muhammad Kamil Lakho conducted the session.
