What We Heard

Throughout our discussions with women and community leaders in Pakistan, we heard about the various ways that global warming is impacting local populations, as well as the innovative solutions that are being implemented to adapt to climate change. The stories that were shared with us have been organized under the following themes:

• Seasonal Changes

• Deforestation

• Extreme Weather and Natural Disasters

• Water Access and Contamination Issues

“When I was young, as a child, there were four seasons. When I was a child, we used to play in the snow here throughout the many snowfalls. But now there is barely any snow. Right now, it is March – and we are supposed to be experiencing the coming of spring – but the weather has completely skipped over spring and went straight to summer. Because of these changes to the weather, we have experienced a massive loss of agriculture and horticulture, which is traditionally women’s responsibility. It is important that we act fast to save our crops and our fruits, which are disappearing. In the future, my dream would be to see more plantations and investments into agriculture to increase women’s incomes. I have no income but I want to educate my children – this is my dream but I don’t have the resources. My husband is very sick and unable to work. There are so many women who like me are in this position, forced to be the sole earner for their families. I want to meet the basic needs of my children and make them feel comfortable, but to do that we need to build more technologies and implement strategies to overcome climate change.”

ELDER IN AJK