Climate change is a great leveller. For it does not recognise man-made borders. Consider the case of the wide-ranging, deleterious effects of climate change on India and Pakistan. Lahore, much like Delhi, has been wrapped in a polluting smog with the approach of winter. Both cities, in fact, have had the dubious distinction of being the most polluted metropolises globally. The impact of air pollution on the people and the economies of both countries is shocking. Fair Finance Pakistan, an organisation working to address climate change, has estimated that air pollution leads to at least 1,28,000 deaths in that country every year; the annual fatality figure for India had touched 2.18 million in 2023. One estimate suggests that the Indian economy lost $37 billion to pollution-related deaths only; Pakistan lost around 2.2% of its FY22 gross domestic product on account of the devastating floods two years ago. Worse, pollution and floods are only a part of the multifaceted challenge that is climate change. Extreme heat, devastating landslides, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, new vectors are expected to make severe dents in the lives and the livelihoods in both nations.

The recent call by Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the chief minister of Punjab in Pakistan, for collaboration with India to battle the tentacles of climate change needs to be seen in this context. Climate change is at once a regional, national and transnational phenomenon. This demands simultaneous interventions at all levels, including cooperation across borders. There is definitely a case for India and Pakistan to augment transnational efforts in data-sharing and joint investments in technology and funds in their existential battle against climate change. Regional platforms — the moribund South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an example — could also be revived to build a broader solidarity. The biggest obstacle to such collaboration lies in the bitter history of political contestations between the neighbours. But climate diplomacy, if it is conducted in a fair, even way, could also have an unintended benefit: it might pave the way for the beginning of bilateral exchanges that have been frozen, largely because of Pakistan’s mischievous militant adventurism on Indian soil. The choice lies with New Delhi and Islamabad.