‘TRUTH is a solvent’ is an unsettling proposition. A solvent dissolves what appears solid and permanent, exposing what lies beneath. In that sense, truth is not always comforting. It can dissolve the stories nations tell about themselves: stories of preparedness, resilience, progress and control. For Pakistan, climate change is becoming precisely such a solvent. It is dissolving the distance between policy statements and lived reality, between promises made in conference halls and conditions experienced in villages, cities, farms and mountain valleys.

This matters as the world approaches COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, in November 2026. Pakistan will arrive at another global climate negotiation carrying a contradiction familiar to vulnerable countries: its contribution to historical global emissions is comparatively small, yet its exposure to climate risks is immense. The question is no longer whether climate change is real. The harder question is whether our institutions are willing to let that truth change how they function.

Pakistan has no shortage of climate policies. The language is ambitious, yet people do not experience policy language. They experience heat, crop losses, damaged homes, polluted air, unreliable water,........

© Dawn