Pakistan Faces Catastrophic Flooding: The Alarming Impact of Climate Change

Sun Nov 02 2025 11:30:32 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Annual flooding in Pakistan has escalated due to climate change, leading to devastating losses in lives and properties. Communities are left grappling with the consequences as floods slice through urban and rural areas alike.

In recent months, monsoon floods in Pakistan have taken over 1,000 lives and affected millions. The country is experiencing the harsh realities of climate change despite contributing only 1% to global greenhouse gas emissions. While the wealthiest in gated communities can rely on resources for restoration, the poorest bear the brunt of these disasters with little hope of escape from future calamities.

Rescuers and relatives searched knee-deep in water for the body of one-year-old Zara. She'd been swept away by flash floods; the bodies of her parents and three siblings had already been found days earlier.

We suddenly saw a lot of water. I climbed up to the roof and urged them to join me, Arshad, Zara's grandfather, said, showing the BBC the dirt road where they were taken from him in the village of Sambrial in northern Punjab in August.

His family tried to join him, but too late. The powerful current washed away all six of them.

Every year, monsoon season brings deadly floods in Pakistan.

This year it began in late June, and within three months, floods had killed more than 1,000 people. At least 6.9 million were affected, according to the United Nations agency for humanitarian affairs, OCHA.

The South Asian nation is struggling with the devastating consequences of climate change, despite emitting just 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

To witness its effects, the BBC travelled from the mountains of the north to the plains of the south for three months. In every province, climate change was having a different impact.

There was one element in common, though. The poorest suffer most.

We met people who'd lost their homes, livelihoods and loved ones – and they were resigned to going through it all again in the next monsoon.

Monsoon floods started in the north, with global warming playing out in its most familiar form in Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan.

Amid the high peaks of the Himalayas, Karakoram and Hindu Kush, there are more than 7,000 glaciers. But due to rising temperatures, they are melting.

The result can be catastrophic: meltwater turns into glacial lakes which can suddenly burst. Thousands of villages are at risk.

This summer hundreds of homes were destroyed and roads damaged by landslides and flash floods.

These 'glacial lake outbursts' are hard to warn against. The area is remote and mobile service poor. Pakistan and the World Bank are trying to improve an early warning system, which often doesn't work because of the mountainous terrain.

Community is a powerful asset. When shepherd Wasit Khan woke up to rushing waters, with trailing chunks of ice and debris, he ran to an area with a better signal. He began warning as many villagers as he could.

Thanks to him, dozens were saved.

The danger took a different form in the north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In Gadoon, the BBC found hundreds of villagers digging through piles of rocks with their bare hands.

A cloudburst had caused a flash flood early in the morning, a local official said.

Scenes like this played out across the province, with rescuers delayed due to uprooted trees and major infrastructure being destroyed. A helicopter carrying aid crashed in the bad weather, claiming the lives of all crew on board.

In villages and cities, millions have settled around rivers and streams, areas prone to flooding. Pakistan's River Protection Act - which prohibits building within 200 ft (61m) of a river or its tributaries - was meant to solve that issue. But for many it's simply too costly to settle elsewhere.

Illegal construction makes matters worse. Climate scientist Fahad Saeed blames this on local corruption and believes officials are failing to enforce the law.

By late August, further south in the province of Punjab, floods had submerged 4,500 villages, overwhelming Pakistan's breadbasket, in a country that can't always afford to import enough food.

For the first time, three rivers - the Sutlej, Ravi and Chenab - flooded simultaneously, triggering the largest rescue operation in decades.

The impact on wealthier and poorer communities was stark. The gated community of Park View City was inundated by the Ravi river, making its prized streets impossible to navigate. Residents of luxury homes were forced to evacuate.

But for residents in the poorer neighbourhood of Theme Park, the floods were crushing. By the end of monsoon season, the floods had displaced more than 2.7 million people in Punjab, the UN said.

Some are trying different solutions. Architect Yasmeen Lari has designed what she calls climate-resilient houses in dozens of villages. Dr Lari argues building an entire village on stilts would be unfeasible and too expensive.

This is the reality for Pakistan, and all the climate scientists and politicians the BBC spoke to warn of an increasingly worrying future. Every year the monsoon will become more and more aggressive, Syed Muhammad Tayyab Shah at the National Disaster Management Authority said. Every year, there will be a new surprise for us.