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UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged donor countries, international financial institutions and relevant organizations, along with the private sector and civil society to fully support efforts to help the Government and the people of Pakistan in the wake of devastating floods.
Speaking to the General Assembly ahead of the adoption, the UN chief said, “the people of Pakistan are the victims of a grim calculus of climate injustice,” reiterating that “Pakistan is responsible for less than one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is paying a supersized price for manmade climate change.”
Guterres recalled his trip a month ago to the country, where he saw a level of climate carnage beyond imagination: flood waters covering a landmass three times the total area of my own country, Portugal.
He said, “Pakistan is on the verge of a public health disaster. The risk of a cholera outbreak, malaria and dengue fever threaten to claim far more lives than the floods.”
Guterres continued, “nearly 1,500 health facilities have been devastated, greatly hindering the ability to detect and respond to outbreaks. More than two million homes were damaged or destroyed. That is more than two million families who have lost their possessions. Many have no shelter as winter approaches.”
At the same time, the UN chief said, “the scale of crop and livestock destruction is creating a food crisis today and putting the planting season in jeopardy tomorrow.”
Guterres added, “severe hunger is spiking. Malnutrition among children and pregnant lactating women is rising. The number of children out of school is growing. Heartache and hardship – especially for women and girls – is mounting.”
“The calendar is fast moving forward to COP27 – but the world is moving backwards,” the UN chief warned.
He said, “greenhouse gas emissions are rising along with climate calamities. COP 27 must be the place where these trends are reversed. COP27 must be the place for serious action on loss and damage. COP27 must be the place for clarity on vital funding for adaptation and resilience.”
The UN chief said, “today, it is Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country and your communities.”
He reiterated, “climate chaos is knocking on everyone’s door, right now. We must step up and answer the call for the people of Pakistan. This global crisis demands global solidarity and a global response.”
Munir Akram, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN also spoke at the General Assembly.
He said, “we must construct global mechanisms that can enable climate strike countries to access resources to mitigate the impacts of the ever more frequent and more intense climate disasters and to recover quickly from such disasters. We hope that the forthcoming COP 27 in Egypt will evolve agreement on such solutions through solidarity, as the President has called it.”
The UN is working with the Government of Pakistan to convene a Pledging Conference to bring together donors at the highest level to provide concrete support for rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.
