By Azeem Ahmed Khan

Pakistan plans to climate-proof 75% of its major infrastructure and upgrade 70% of critical assets in flood and heat-prone areas by 2040, while also developing 25 Resilient Growth Zones by 2030.

According to a document available with Wealth Pakistan, the country aims to strengthen physical infrastructure against intensifying climate risks and ensure long-term resilience across key sectors through climate-smart systems and early warning mechanisms.

The increasing frequency of climate disasters in Pakistan indicates that its infrastructure is highly vulnerable and unprepared. The document underscores that investing in climate-resilient infrastructure is essential to protect development gains, reduce disaster losses, and ensure sustainable economic growth.

Under the strategy, climate vulnerability screening will be integrated into all public infrastructure and investment decisions at the provincial level by 2027, with mandatory climate risk assessment and adaptation costing for all infrastructure investments.

The document highlights that much of Pakistan’s infrastructure is built in high-hazard areas — such as floodplains and heat-affected districts — and often lacks proper climate risk assessment, increasing vulnerability to extreme events. These assets are built to outdated standards and without a proper climate risk assessment, which exacerbates the damage caused by climate events.

To protect development and mitigate climate-related disasters, Pakistan needs to invest in infrastructure that can withstand future risks, as prevention is often more cost-effective than repair. This requires a shift from reactive responses to proactive investment in resilient infrastructure, the document said.

Key systems, including national highways, river basins, energy transmission networks, ports, and major transport corridors such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) routes, require strengthening to withstand climate stress.

Meanwhile, the document notes that urban and rural development must adopt green infrastructure approaches, such as sponge cities, integrated watershed management, nature-based drainage solutions, and climate-resilient building practices, to promote sustainable development.

The plan aims to institutionalise climate risk screening in all major infrastructure planning through tools, such as climate risk-informed cost-benefit analysis, disaster risk reduction budgeting, and adaptation finance tagging.

An example of this approach is already being practised in Gilgit-Baltistan, where the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat and the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, in partnership with the government, are applying climate risk screening to infrastructure projects, a model that can be replicated nationwide.

The document notes that the 2022 floods alone damaged around 13,000 kilometres of roads and 410 bridges, disrupting connectivity and economic activity valued at about $30 billion. The situation worsened during the 2025 floods, which caused over 1,000 deaths and displaced between 1 and 1.8 million people.

Punjab, the largest province and backbone of the country's agriculture, faced its worst flooding, with over two million hectares submerged, 5.1 million people displaced across 8,400 villages, and 300 deaths reported. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 350 deaths due to flash floods, while Sindh and Balochistan also suffered widespread damage to homes, agriculture, and infrastructure.

Credit: INP-WealthPk