27915_100286295karachicityclimatechangead

ings us to the fundamental challengefacing Karachi City and that isof a disorganized, ill-coordinated institutionaland governance frameworkwith substantial capacitydeficits.Some key sectors that can be identifiedin Karachi may include waterand sanitation, drainage, housingand land use, transportation andemergency response – emergencymedicine, health care, fire services,law and order etc. What is neededis the initiation of a process of institutionalreforms within these sectorswhere a new paradigm requiresto be considered that accommodatessharing of roles and responsibilitiesin terms of financing andprovisioning of critical civic servicesbetween the public and private sectorsand communities.While a leading role has to beplayed by government institutionsin implementing strategies for climatechange adaptation, successand resilience can only be achievedif all sectors of the urban sphereright down to the household levelare involved and have a rolemapped out for them. While thecity government should ideally betaking the lead coordinating role,important responsibilities in providingcritical research, administrationand service provision support willhave to be provide by agencies suchas NDMA, PDMA, SUPARCO, NIO,Met Department, academic institutions,KW&SB, SEPA, emergency responseagencies etc. At the otherlevel, initiatives at the city level forobtaining optimal results have todovetail with a clearly mapped outNational Adaptation Program forAction (NAPA). Here again, an opportunityexists to plug the gaps inthe Climate Change Policy as it relatesto the urban context and shiftfocus on a vitally important nationalgrowth priority – promoting andsustaining vibrant urban growth inPakistan. Critically important wouldbe provision of financing options forimplementing actions.Sunset at Karachi coastMohammad Arshad, Shehri-CBEThe challenges are many but moredelayed the action, the more difficultit will get. Developing a climatechange adaptation strategy is notan end in itself. It is more in the natureof a journey that would evolveas the science around it evolves,new technological innovations surfaceand the capacities and responsesof governments and communitiesadapt to changingscenarios. We need to take the firststep. The scope of this Study couldnot allow going into the deeperstrategic aspects such as a detailedinsight into critical vulnerabilities,the larger policy and governance aspectsas they relate to climatechange adaptation and identificationof key stakeholder, institutionsand their possible roles and responsibilities.That work can be left for aStrategy document. The list of actionsidentified can be consideredas some end goals – for us the mostcritical aspect relates more to developingwillingness, a consensus and astrategy to achieve the end goalsandthat can be the focus of hopefullya comprehensive climatechange adaptation strategy forKarachi City.65