International Conference on

“Implications of Climate Change on Water and Agriculture” from June 17-19, 2023 at Bara Gali Summer Campus, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Organized by

Department of Geography and Geomatics, University of Peshawar-Pakistan

Introduction

The Department of Geography and Geomatics, University of Peshawar, was founded in 1956 to cater for the educational requirements of the inhabitants of the province, the adjoining District Khyber (previously known as FATA) and other nearby areas. It is committed to the mission of quality teaching and research, in the field of the Physical, Human and Applied Geography, under the major themes of man-environment interaction, natural resource management and conservation, application of Technical Geography i.e. Geomatics and Spatial Analysis of various natural and anthropogenic phenomena. The Department has contributed a lot in the initiation of new and emerging disciplines, required to fulfill the need of highly skilled personnel in the region. Some of the important programs initiated by this department included Environmental Planning and Management (EPM), Urban and Regional Planning (Established in 1993 with the collaboration of the Institute of Planning Studies, now the School of Built Environment, University of Nottingham, U.K) and Disaster Preparedness & Management. The Department provides a variety of programs, services and resources to enhance students’ professional training and career success. Currently, there are two BS 4-year programs i.e. Geography and Geomatics, one MSC degree program in addition to MPhil and PhD programs both in Geography and Geomatics. This department is equipped with latest facilities and equipment. Apart from an excellent collection of books and research journals in its Seminar Library, the Department has well-furnished laboratories of Cartography, Geomorphology, Remote Sensing, Computer and GIS. There is a very good collection of new and historical maps of various scale and aerial photographs covering the entire country and adjoining areas.

Background

Pakistan is highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. Maplecroft’s (2021) Index of vulnerability to climate change ranks Pakistan 8^th among 170 nations of the world. The country has moved up in the vulnerability index since 2010, when it was rated 29^th. This is rather ironical for a county that contributes very little to the global greenhouse gases (GHGs) ranking 135^th in the world in per capita GHG emissions.

The vulnerabilities of Pakistan to climate change have enhanced because of its warm climate, preponderance of arid and semi-arid lands, and dependence of its rivers on the Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalayan glaciers, which are reported to be receding due to global warming. Climate change is likely to affect many sectors and across ecosystems. The largely agrarian economy of the country is highly climate sensitive, and increasingly at risks because of variability in monsoon rains, floods and extended droughts. Compounding these problems are the expected increased risks to the coastal areas (particularly to Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and the hub of its industrial activity and international trade) and the Indus deltaic region due to sea level rise and increasing cyclonic activity; to the mountainous regions due to glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and landslides; to the country’s scanty forests (about 5 per cent of the land area is under forest cover) due to forest fires as well as reduced regeneration under rapidly changing climate conditions; to human health due to heat strokes, diarrhoea, cholera and vector borne diseases; and to human settlements due to floods and cyclones.

Economically the detrimental impacts of climate change will be widespread and have bearing not only on water security, food security and energy security but also impinge on agriculture, forests, livestock, and fisheries, the sectors vital for Pakistan’s economy. In terms of the social dimension, climate change will cause displacement of people, and result in loss of their income due to enhanced extreme natural events such as floods and droughts or sea level rise. It could jeopardize hundreds of jobs, may result in inflation of food prices and increase the number of people at risk of food insecurity and hunger. It could also trigger migration and civil unrest. Climate change is also likely to have serious impacts on biophysical conditions through a change in the ecology and habitats, quantity and quality of land, soil, water and biotic resources and ocean temperature and salinity. It may exacerbate occurrence of weeds and pests, which in turn may enhance environmental changes.

Three recent reminder of what climate change impacts mean to Pakistan were witnessed in the most devastating 2010 floods and the worst drought faced by the country during 1998-2001 and most recently 2022 floods. These events made all stakeholders realize the urgency and seriousness of addressing the climate change issues in Pakistan. They remind very clearly that climate change is turning out to be an unfortunate but stark reality for Pakistan. The issue is now confronting the country head-on while demonstrating the strength and ferocity of its impact in terms of human, economic and environmental costs.

Organization of conferences, workshops and awareness programmes related to climate change impacts is a regular phenomenon in the department. Each year, the Department of Geography and Geomatics, UOP have organize conferences at Bara Gali Summer Camp of the University of Peshawar. This year too, the department has organized International Conference titled “Implications of Climate Change on Water and Agriculture” from June 17-19, 2023 at Bara Gali Summer Campus, University of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Conference Themes:

The Conference will include, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Climate, Weather forecasting and climate change
• Climatic variability
• Climate Change and Agricultural Resources
• Land use and cropping pattern
• Climate Change and Agriculture
• Climate change and Hydro-Geography
• Irrigation and agriculture
• Climate Change and Forest Resources
• Climate Change and Land Use
• Climate Change and Disasters
• Climatic Variability and natural hazards
• Climate Change and Urban Agriculture
• Climate Change and Desertification
• Climate Change Models
• Adaptation to climate change
• Land Use and Food Security
• Land use and agriculture
• Climate change and forest resources
• Applications of GIS in climate change science.
• Application of GIS in agriculture and food security
• Application of GIS in Hydro-Geography.
• Impact of flood disaster on agriculture sector
• Drought and agriculture
• Drought and Water Resources

The Target Audience:

The target audience include broad spectrum of people like Geographers, environmental scientists, Climate Change Scientists,  DRR professionals, Urban and Regional planners, Meteorologist, GIS professionals, academicians, Agriculture Scientists and Hydrologists, engineers, practitioners involved in all sectors of physical and cultural environment such as agriculture, hydrology, climatology, urban, industrial etc., governmental line agencies, NGO’s and researchers etc.

Expected outcomes

Large number of academicians, professionals, researchers and students are expected to participate in the event. The conference will help to create awareness among the masses about the basic concept of climate change. It will help to sensitize the international and national collaborators/ participants to deal with expected impacts of climate change. As it is clear from the themes that the speakers will deliver their research outcomes on various aspects of climate change and their potential impacts on human lives not only in Pakistan but also elsewhere in the world. The outcomes of the conference will be shared with line agencies and collaborators for climate change adaptation according to changing scenarios.

Collaborations with line agencies and international organizations

Currently the Directorate General of Soil and Water Conservation, Peshawar-Pakistan has shown interest in the collaboration in the upcoming event. We are looking for collaboration with Pakistan Red Cross Society (PRCS) who were also the collaborator in the last year event. We are also looking for collaboration with other international organizations who have interest in the climate science. PRCS is requested to help us in making collaboration with other international organizations.

Submission of Abstracts

The abstracts should not exceed 300 words. Underline the presenting author’s name. The abstract should be sent via email in MS WORD (.doc) format to geography@uop.edu.pk.

Important Dates:

May 20, 2023              Deadline for Abstract submission and Pre-registration

May 25, 2023              Decision on Abstracts and notifying the authors

June 05, 2023              Submission of Final Manuscript

Prof. Dr Atta-ur-Rahman (Conference Convenor)                                         Dr. Samiullah (Secretary of the Conference)