Pakistan plans plastic reform: Its informal recyclers hold the key
- 11-Mar-2026
Close to half of the country’s waste is handled by vulnerable informal recyclers, so how much can a national framework really do?
Climate Finance Will Be the First Casualty of Rising Militarism: Ali T. Sheikh Warns Ahead of COP30
- 01-Oct-2025
'It’s Time to Shake Things Up'—Ali T. Sheikh on the upcoming COP30
In northern Pakistan, indigenous ice stupas offer a nature-based water solution
- 30-Aug-2025
Pakistan’s far north region of Gilgit-Baltistan, where towering peaks cradle remote valleys, has survived for centuries on a fragile lifeline – glacial melt. But that lifeline is fraying. As global temperatures rise, snowfall – critical for feeding the region’s water supply – has become increasingly unpredictable. Meanwhile, population and tourism growth has driven the expansion of farmland in an […]
Swept Away: Flash Floods, Failed Systems Bane of Pakistan’s North
- 21-Aug-2025
KARACHI, Aug 20, 2025 (IPS) – Intense rainfall over small areas in Pakistan’s mountainous regions caused massive destruction, sweeping away entire villages. On August 15, the district of Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province experienced a weather anomaly in which glacier melt and intense monsoon rains caused floods that buried villages under mud and rock. […]
Where the Thunder Dragon Breathes: Bhutan’s Bold Bet on Climate, Culture and Contentment
- 19-Jun-2025
THIMPU, Bhutan, Jun 18, 2025: “I can’t get this anywhere else,” says Tshering Lhamo, a 29-year-old shopkeeper in Thimphu, as she gestures toward the clean Himalayan air outside her thangka shop. She once studied in Kuala Lumpur but came back to Bhutan for the peace—and the purity. Her friend, Kezan Jatsho, who has never left […]
Noor Mukadam Got Justice, But Why Does Pakistan’s Legal System Fail Its Women?
- 05-Jun-2025
KARACHI, Pakistan, Jun 4, 2025: “It’s brought me some closure,” said Shafaq Zaidi, a school friend of Noor Mukadam, reacting to the Supreme Court’s May 20 verdict upholding both the life sentence and death penalty for Noor’s killer, Zahir Jaffer. “Nothing can bring Noor back, but this decision offers a sense of justice—not just for […]
Lahore’s Smog: With the Sun Out, the Government Lifts Restrictions
- 28-Nov-2024
KARACHI, Nov 28 2024 (IPS) – Atif Manzoor, 45, the owner of the renowned blue pottery business in Multan, had every reason to feel cheerful last week when the sun finally came out. For a good three weeks, the city of Sufi shrines had been shrouded in an envelope of thick smog. For over three […]
Small Farmers Feeling Climate Change Heat Find Little Support From the State
- 28-Aug-2024
The over 20 million residents of Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, in Sindh province in particular, have been experiencing brutal heat since May. But they are not the only ones bearing the brunt of high temperatures and humidity. Up to 15,000 cattle died due to scorching heat mixed with high humidity which Shakir Umar Gujjar, […]
Climate Change Poses Yet Another Stumbling Block for Pakistani Sportswomen
- 26-Aug-2024
KARACHI, Pakistan: Goalkeeper Rehana Jamali, 17, is jubilant. Her team came in second in the All Sindh Women Hockey Tournament, held last month. “We were the youngest of the seven teams,” she told IPS over the phone from Jacobabad, in Pakistan’s Sindh province. The city hit headlines two years ago after being termed the hottest […]
Fine, Sanctions, or Waiver: Iranian Gas Will Come at a Price for Pakistan
- 22-Apr-2024
When Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visits Pakistan this week (April 22, 2024), experts say the two issues topmost on his mind that he will want to discuss with his Pakistani counterpart, President Asif Ali Zardari, will be border security and the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. “This visit comes at the most troubling time for the region,” […]