ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Wednesday termed population and climate change as “existential issues” that Pakistan must address to realise its potential.
Pakistan is home to a vast population of over 251 million, according to the World Bank. The Bank states the annual population growth rate for 2024 at 1.5 per cent, with the government’s 2023 census showing that the population grew by 2.55pc from 207.7m in 2017 to 241.5m in 2023.
“I am very clear: we cannot realise the potential of this country unless we address two existential issues — population and climate change,” Aurangzeb said while addressing a gathering of the business community in Karachi.
“Only saying that we do not make emissions but have to adapt, so demonstrate it,” he said, referring to Pakistan’s oft-repeated argument that the country contributes less than 1pc to global carbon emissions but faces catastrophic climate change-induced events.
“We have funding. First utilise the funding we have,” the finance minister stressed as he responded to a reporter’s query.
He went on to note that population was “not only about the high-level” but also child stunting and learning poverty, which “is girls out of school”.
“These are all areas on which the federation and the provinces have to work together,” Aurangzeb said.
He said economic issues were “immediate” and would be solved in a few years, but climate change and population were “existential issues and are now urgent enough to address now. Now.”
Last month, lawmakers from across Pakistan called for declaring the rapid population growth a national emergency and integrating population welfare into all development and policy frameworks.
The Council of Islamic Ideology has endorsed birth spacing and recommended involving religious leaders more actively in disseminating messages on its permissibility.
