THE latest study by the Climate Impact Lab should serve as a wake-up call for Pakistan’s policymakers. The report paints a troubling picture of the country’s vulnerability to extreme heat, warning that by 2050, Pakistan could witness more than 150,000 additional temperature-related deaths every year because millions of people will simply be unable to afford the cooling needed to survive increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves. This is not a distant possibility but a foreseeable risk that demands urgent action today.
The study estimates that nearly 89 per cent of Pakistan’s population could be living in regions affected by the “mortality-cooling trap,” where rising temperatures coincide with limited access to affordable electricity and cooling technologies. The danger lies not merely in higher temperatures but in the inability of ordinary households to protect themselves from them. In recent years, Pakistan has witnessed a remarkable shift towards solarization. Thousands of households and businesses have installed rooftop solar systems in response to soaring electricity tariffs and unreliable power supply. While this trend is encouraging, it also highlights a painful reality: a vast segment of the population simply cannot afford the high upfront cost of solar installations. At the same time, grid electricity has become increasingly expensive, pushing even basic cooling beyond the reach of many households. Middle-income and low-income families, who already struggle to meet daily expenses, will inevitably bear the brunt of future heat extremes. This challenge calls for far more than warnings and projections. The government must treat affordable access to electricity as a cornerstone of climate adaptation. Reforms should focus on reducing electricity costs, strengthening distribution networks and promoting energy-efficient cooling technologies. Equally important is the introduction of low-interest financing and easy installment schemes that enable households to install rooftop solar systems. Such measures would not only improve resilience against extreme heat but also reduce pressure on the national grid. The time for action is now, before extreme heat claims thousands of lives that could otherwise be saved.
