Islamabad [Pakistan], September 9 (ANI): Pakistan’s growing vulnerability to climate change has come under scrutiny, with five major cities ranking among the world’s least resilient to climate-related risks, as reported by Geo News.
According to Geo News. Hyderabad, Multan, Lahore, Faisalabad and Karachi were all placed among the 10 least resilient cities in the world in an analysis covering 72 major urban centres.
Hyderabad ranked second, Multan third, Lahore fifth, Faisalabad seventh and Karachi eighth. The assessment was prepared by AlphaGeo, a geospatial analytics company, which examined both cities’ physical exposure to climate hazards and their ability to adapt to those threats.
The report used a measure described as resilience-adjusted risk (RAJ) to distinguish between cities facing high levels of physical danger and those that also lack sufficient adaptive capacity.
The highest-risk major cities identified in the assessment are all located in South Asia: Hyderabad, Multan and Lahore in Pakistan and Dhaka in Bangladesh. Heat exposure was identified as a major factor driving the elevated risk across these urban centres.
The report noted that adaptation levels in several of the affected cities remain inadequate compared with the scale of their physical exposure. Hyderabad recorded an RAJ score of 41, while Multan scored 38 and Lahore 35. Faisalabad and Karachi also appeared among the 10 cities with the weakest resilience.
Dhaka was identified as the most physically exposed city in the study, recording a physical risk score of 60. Although the Bangladeshi capital had an adaptation delta of 24 points, its remaining RAJ score stood at 36, keeping it among the most vulnerable major cities assessed, as cited by Geo News.
The findings carry significant implications for urban infrastructure and investment. Investors in real assets should closely examine the potential impact of climate risks on property values, infrastructure durability and the continuity of business operations, as reported by Geo News. (ANI)
Pakistan’s major cities exposed as least climate-resilient, raises menace
