Sharif calls for compensation from rich polluters after devastating floods
PAKISTAN’S prime minister Shehbaz Sharif warned last Friday (23) that the country’s worst-ever floods were a sign of climate catastrophes to come around the world, as he urged justice for developing nations that bear little responsibility for warming.
Unprecedented monsoon downpours flooded a third of the country, killing nearly 1,600 people and displacing more than seven million.
“What happened in Pakistan will not stay in Pakistan,” he said in an address to the United Nations General Assembly, adding that lost homes, decimated livelihoods and deluged cropland had meant that for many, life had “changed forever”.
Sharif said injustice was inherent in the crisis, with his country of 220 million people at “ground zero” of climate change, but responsible for fewer than one per cent of carbon emissions.
“Why are my people paying the price of such high global warming through no fault of their own? Nature has unleashed her fury on Pakistan without looking at our carbon footprint, which is next to nothing,” he said.
“It is therefore entirely reasonable to expect some approximation of justice for this loss and damage,” he continued, adding his voice to growing calls among developing countries for financial compensation from rich polluters.
The issue of “loss and damage” payments is contentious. Supporters argue that historic polluters have a moral imperative to pay for the loss and damage already caused by multiplying extreme weather events, which have not been prevented by measures to mitigate or adapt to global warming.
The idea has so far been shot down by rich nations, but UN chief Antonio Guterres endorsed the proposal a few days ago. It is due to be discussed at the next UN climate summit in Egypt.
Pakistan has estimated total financial losses at $30 billion (£27.8bn), and last Friday its finance minister Miftah Ismail tweeted the country was seeking debt relief from bilateral creditors.
Turning his attention to neighboring Afghanistan, Sharif urged the international community to heed a $4.2bn (£3.9bn) UN appeal for humanitarian and economic assistance, and release the country’s financial reserves, which have been frozen since the Taliban seized power last year.
“Pakistan is working to encourage respect for the rights of Afghan girls and women to education and work. At this point, isolating the Afghan interim government could aggravate the suffering of the Afghan people,” he said. The United States recently set up an outside fund to manage Afghanistan’s frozen assets, saying it did not trust the Taliban.