Pakistan didn’t cause the climate crisis it is dealing with and the world must help
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With more than 33 million people displaced by the catastrophic floods and their livelihoods lost, Pakistan’s needs massive financial support for relief and rehabilitation. The cost of the damage is estimated to $30 billion and still counting. The flooding has swept away roads, dams and other infrastructure that may take years to rebuild.
The worst natural calamity in its history, the flooding has taken Pakistan many years back. And it’s not over yet as the nation braces for the after effects. With a weak economy, the country doesn’t not have the resources to deal with the unprecedented crisis on its own. Pakistan is bearing the cost of the worst climate-induced disaster in recent history, and one for which it is least responsible.
In the words of the UN Secretary General, there is “no memory of anything similar to what has happened with the impact of climate change in Pakistan.” Some aid has started trickling in but the country needs much greater financial support from the international community given the magnitude of the destruction.
Almost half the country is inundated with water. The scale of the destruction is far more than the 2010 super flood. Some 72 districts have been declared “calamity-hit”. More than 1.4 million homes have been destroyed in record monsoon rains. While Sindh and Balochistan provinces have been worst hit, other parts of the country are also affected. People have lost their houses, crops, jobs and are living in desperate conditions.
According to relief agencies, help has so far reached only ten percent of the affectées because of the breakdown of the transport system in the flooded areas. The massive migration of the victims has worsened the humanitarian crisis. Most of them do not have any shelter. There has been a complete breakdown of civic facilities in some areas.
The poor and vulnerable have mostly borne the cost of the disaster. Hundreds of children have reportedly been swept away in the flash floods. At least one in three deaths claimed by the flooding are reportedly children. Out of the 1,396 fatalities since mid-June, 499 are children.
The lack of clean drinking water is causing an increase in disease. Access to clean water is the biggest problem for those trying to find food and shelter. According to Unicef, more children were at risk of dying from disease in the flood affected areas due to the shortage of clean water.
There have been some pledges but not enough even to meet the urgent needs of providing food and shelter to the hugely displaced population.
Zahid Hussain
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the outbreak of diseases among the displaced. There is now a high risk of water-borne, deadly diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, dengue and malaria spreading rapidly. There is therefore the risk of many more child deaths.
The UN and Pakistan's government earlier this month issued a flash appeal for $160 million to cope with the immediate impact of the devastation. It is meant to provide food, water, sanitation and emergency health support to the millions of flood victims. There have been some pledges but not enough even to meet the urgent needs of providing food and shelter to the hugely displaced population.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to the flood affected areas last week, called upon the international community to understand that Pakistan needs massive financial support to overcome the crisis. He urged rich countries to help Pakistan and other poorer countries suffering from climate change because of their massive greenhouse gas emissions, which had caused global warming. The rich countries have generally been reluctant to pay for the climate loss. He said that it was not a matter of generosity, but of justice.
While Pakistan’s contribution to air pollution and greenhouse emissions is lower than most countries, it’s one of the countries most affected by the consequences of global warming. Over the past few years, the country has witnessed extreme weather patterns — from increasingly high temperatures in summer to heavy rains in some parts of the country, and drought in others. The temperature increase in Pakistan is higher than the global average.
An increase in extreme temperatures has significantly altered climate patterns affecting the timing and strength of the monsoon rainfall as witnessed this year. It has caused the faster melting of glaciers impacting the natural environment. It has also caused the flooding of rivers with devastating consequences. The economic cost of climate change for Pakistan is higher than in many other countries.
As the UN Secretary General has said: “It is absolutely essential that this is recognised by the international community, especially by those countries that have contributed more to climate change.” It’s time that the developed world comes forward to help the victims of this climate calamity, for which they are mainly responsible.
– Zahid Hussain is an award-winning journalist and author. He is a former scholar at Woodrow Wilson Centre and a visiting fellow at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, and at the Stimson Center in DC. He is author of Frontline Pakistan: The struggle with Militant Islam and The Scorpion’s tail: The relentless rise of Islamic militants in Pakistan. Frontline Pakistan was the book of the year (2007) by the WSJ. His latest book ‘No-Win War’ was published this year.
Twitter: @hidhussain
