OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies: Creating a Sustainable Future for Pakistan (9236)

Creating a Sustainable Future for Pakistan is topic 3.2.4 of OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies 9236, one of two optional topics examined in Paper 2, Section C (21 marks). It covers environmental problems (pollution, deforestation, desertification, threats to biodiversity), the impacts of climate change and how Pakistan is responding, and strategies to reduce regional inequality, improve education and gender equality and secure food supplies. Extended answers need named examples and a judgement on how effective each strategy is.

Syllabus coverage

OXFORDAQA INTERNATIONAL GCSE PAKISTAN STUDIES (9236), VERSION 1.9 — 3.2.4

3.2.4.1 Environmental issues

• Causes and consequences of air, water, soil and noise pollution
• Causes and impacts of deforestation, and strategies to address them
• Causes and impacts of desertification, and strategies to address them
• Local, national and international strategies to protect natural environments and biodiversity

3.2.4.2 Managing climate change

• Consequences of climate change for Pakistan’s environment, people and economy
• International agreements and government policy, including the Paris Agreement and Pakistan’s National Adaptation Plan
• Mitigation strategies: reducing CO2 emissions, increasing renewable energy, reforestation
• Adaptation strategies: warning systems, disaster response and preparedness, flood resilience

3.2.4.3 Supporting development and equality

• Factors affecting regional differences in development
• Effectiveness of strategies to reduce uneven development
• Strategies to improve education and gender equality
• Food security and its development

What causes pollution in Pakistan, and what are its effects?

Type	Main causes	Consequences
Air	Vehicle exhaust, old brick kilns, industry, burning crop stubble and waste	Winter smog in Lahore and other Punjab cities; respiratory illness; school and road closures
Water	Untreated sewage and industrial waste in rivers and the sea; farm chemicals	Water-borne disease such as diarrhoea and typhoid; harm to fish and the Indus delta
Soil	Over-use of fertiliser and pesticides; salinity from poor irrigation; dumped waste	Falling yields; contaminated crops
Noise	Traffic, generators, construction and loudspeakers in cities	Stress, sleep loss and hearing damage

Why is deforestation a problem, and what is being done?

Pakistan has a low share of land under forest. Causes: cutting wood for fuel and timber, clearing land for farms and housing, over-grazing, and illegal logging in the northern mountains. Impacts: soil erosion and landslides on slopes, faster run-off that worsens floods, silting of reservoirs such as Tarbela, loss of habitats and lower carbon storage.

Strategies: the Billion Tree Tsunami in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (from 2014) and the national Ten Billion Tree Tsunami programme (from 2018) planted and protected large areas of forest; protection of mangroves along the Sindh coast; alternative fuels such as LPG to reduce wood burning; community forest management and bans on logging in some areas.

What causes desertification, and how can it be tackled?

Desertification is the spread of desert-like conditions in dry areas. In Pakistan it threatens parts of the Thar, Cholistan and Thal deserts and Balochistan. Causes: low and unreliable rainfall, drought, over-grazing, cutting shrubs for fuel, over-pumping of groundwater and poor irrigation that leaves salt in the soil. Impacts: loss of farmland and grazing, falling incomes, migration to towns, and dust storms. Strategies: planting drought-resistant trees and shrubs as shelter belts, controlled grazing, efficient irrigation such as drip systems, water harvesting and small dams, and reclaiming saline land.

How is biodiversity protected?

• Local: community conservation, such as trophy-hunting programmes in the north where income from licensed hunting of markhor is shared with villages that protect the animals.
• National: national parks and protected areas, such as Khunjerab, Margalla Hills, Kirthar and Hingol; wildlife laws; protection of the endangered Indus river dolphin.
• International: work with organisations such as WWF and the United Nations; international conventions on biodiversity and wetlands.

How does climate change affect Pakistan?

Pakistan produces a very small share of global greenhouse gas emissions but is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Consequences: more intense heatwaves, such as the 2015 Karachi heatwave; glacier melt in the Karakoram and Himalaya, with risks of glacial lake outburst floods; more extreme monsoon floods, such as the 2022 floods, which covered large areas of Sindh and Balochistan, killed more than 1,700 people and caused damage and losses estimated at about US$30 billion; droughts; sea-level rise and saltwater intrusion in the Indus delta. These reduce crop yields, damage infrastructure, spread disease and push people into poverty.

How is Pakistan responding to climate change?

International agreements and policy: Pakistan is a party to the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C, and submits national plans for emission cuts and adaptation. Its National Adaptation Plan (2023) sets priorities for agriculture and water, urban resilience, health, disaster risk management and natural ecosystems. At the 2022 UN climate conference Pakistan was a leading voice for the new loss and damage fund for vulnerable countries.

Mitigation (reducing the causes): expanding solar, wind and hydro power under the Alternative and Renewable Energy Policy (2019); policies encouraging electric vehicles; mass transit in cities; reforestation programmes that store carbon.

Adaptation (reducing the impacts): early warning systems run by the Pakistan Meteorological Department, and disaster planning by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA); heatwave plans in cities; flood resilience through embankments, raised homes, protected wetlands and better land-use planning; projects to reduce the risk of glacial lake outburst floods in the north.

Why is development uneven within Pakistan?

Factors: physical (fertile irrigated plains in Punjab and Sindh versus mountains and deserts elsewhere), economic (industry and services concentrated in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad), social (literacy and health care higher in cities) and political (security problems, historical neglect, and the former tribal areas only merged into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018). Balochistan and the former tribal districts have the lowest levels of development.

Strategies and effectiveness:

• The National Finance Commission award shares federal revenue with provinces, giving weight to poverty and backwardness; the 2010 award increased the provinces’ share.
• The Benazir Income Support Programme (2008) and later Ehsaas provide cash transfers to poor women, helping the poorest households, though payments are small.
• Infrastructure through CPEC and development projects in Balochistan; results so far are mixed, with local communities questioning how much benefit they receive.

How can education, gender equality and food security be improved?

Education: Article 25A of the constitution (added in 2010) makes free education a right for children aged 5 to 16, but millions of children remain out of school, more of them girls. Strategies include building schools near villages, female teachers, stipends for girls, and non-formal and online learning. Gender equality: reserved seats for women in assemblies, laws against harassment and violence, and cash programmes paid to women. Food security: Pakistan produces large quantities of wheat, rice and other food, but high food prices, floods and droughts, and poor nutrition mean many children are stunted. Strategies include support for farmers, better water management, strategic wheat reserves, flood-resilient crops and nutrition programmes.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between mitigation and adaptation? Mitigation reduces the causes of climate change, such as cutting emissions; adaptation reduces the harm, such as building flood defences and warning systems.

Why is Pakistan so vulnerable to climate change? It relies on glacier-fed rivers and monsoon rain for water and farming, has very hot summers, and many people live on floodplains with limited resources to recover.

What was the Billion Tree Tsunami? A tree-planting and forest-protection programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 2014, later scaled up nationally as the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami.

Related pages

• Creating a Sustainable Future revision notes
• Creating a Sustainable Future practice questions
• Landscape and Natural Resources study guide

Source: OxfordAQA, International GCSE Pakistan Studies (9236) specification, Version 1.9, topic 3.2.4; Government of Pakistan Post-Disaster Needs Assessment for the 2022 floods.