Climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time. Yet a parallel crisis is unfolding in silence. It does not rise from melting ice or rising seas. It comes instead from the rapid spread of digital technologies that touch nearly every part of modern life. This shift is so deep and far-reaching that it deserves the name of its own: Digital Climate Change.

Digital Climate Change describes the cumulative and often irreversible impact of digital technologies on societies, economies, politics, and even the environment. It captures how digital systems shape behaviour, values, power, and the way states deal with one another. The term is new, but the reality has been building for years.

Every day, billions of people generate streams of data as they work, shop, move and think. Algorithms turn this data into predictions and decisions. Governments rely on digital networks for essential services. Platforms influence public debate, social relations and political trust. Large companies extract and store vast amounts of information. None of this is neutral. These shifts change how power works, who benefits, who falls behind, and how societies respond to pressure.

Pakistan sits at the centre of this global wave. With more than 190 million mobile subscribers and rising digital dependence, the country is experiencing rapid technological change. But this change........

© The Express Tribune