Daily Times

Extreme climatic conditions have again reared their head as National Disaster Management Authority warns of intensive heat waves and unprecedent snow melting, which would culminate in deadly floods. Pakistan regularly experiences some of the highest maximum temperatures in the world, along with an especially high propensity for flash floods, avalanches and drought, as well as some exposure to tropical cyclones and their associated hazards. In practical terms, this means that we cannot afford to be sceptical of climate change and its consequences any longer-our unwillingness to give natural hazard prevention the space it deserves in national discourse has already cost us far more than we can bear to lose. To put things into perspective, Pakistan now ranks as the eighth most vulnerable country to climate change. Despite contributing less than one per cent to global carbon emissions, we have consistently shown up on the climate risk index and are now part of a unique category of countries-along with Haiti and the Philippines-which have been on both yearly and long-term climate risk indexes.

Scorching temperatures have been known to damage entire orchards and hurt wheat production across Pakistan, adversely affecting the livelihoods of many small farmers and rendering formerly arable land altogether unusable for agriculture. With over 128,000 fatalities to climate change year and billions of dollars in financial losses, it is essential to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to address the impacts of climate change on the country. A decision like this requires political parties to push their differences aside and work together to develop a common plan of action that overrides partisan hostilities.

Currently, our adaptation needs range between $7 billion and $14 billion per year-it is painfully evident that we do not have the financial capacity to alleviate the pressures imposed by climate change. At a turbulent moment like this one, it is the international community’s duty to fulfil the promises it has repeatedly betrayed, specifically in regard to loss and damages. Even after the Paris Agreement of 2015 where several rich nations pledged to provide $100 billion to poorer countries each year to mitigate the impact of extreme environmental events, climate finance infrastructure continues to be grossly inadequate and does not have the funds available to help Pakistan shift towards a low carbon trajectory growth and ultimately meet its adaptation requirements. *