KARACHI: United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres said on Saturday he had “never seen climate carnage” on such a massive scale as the one brought about by raging floods in Pakistan, after visiting areas devastated by floods in the country.
The UN chief is on a two-day trip to Pakistan after floods triggered by unusually heavy rains since mid-June have killed over 1,350 people in rain-related incidents. Government estimates say the catastrophe has affected more than 33 million people while Pakistani authorities estimated the magnitude of the damages at around $30 billion.
On the second day of his trip, the UN chief visited the severely flood-affected district Larkana in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province and famed archaeological site Mohenjo-Daro and Usta Muhammad city of district Jafarabad in southwestern Balochistan.
Guterres was briefed by provincial authorities about the rescue and relief operations taking place in the area. He also interacted with first responders and flood victims.
“I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world but have never seen climate carnage on this scale,” Guterres said during a press conference in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, adding that it was difficult not to be moved after hearing such detailed accounts of tragedy.
“I have simply no words to describe what I have seen today,” he said, calling the devastation “unimaginable”.
Guterres urged the international community to provide massive financial assistance to Pakistan to ensure it deals with the massive challenge of relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction.
“[Pakistan has] a flooded area that is three times the total area of my own country, Portugal,” he said. “Behind these numbers lie unquantifiable human sufferings,” he lamented.
Pakistanis are paying the price of something which was created by others, Guterres said, warning other countries that they could be facing tomorrow what Pakistan is facing today.
“I have seen an epic human tragedy here in Pakistan but I have also seen the future,” he said, adding that if the planet continued to grow warmer, all countries would increasingly suffer losses and damages from climate beyond their capacity to adapt.
“This is not just a question of solidarity or generosity but it is a question of justice. The needs are enormous and I urge massive and urgent financial support for Pakistan,” he added.
The G20 countries are responsible for 80 percent of today’s greenhouse gas emissions, Guterres said.
“Here from Pakistan, I want to reinforce the clear point that western countries are morally [responsible] for helping developing countries like Pakistan recover from disasters like this,” he said.
Guterres said that unfortunately such disasters would repeat themselves in future. People living in high climate vulnerable conditions, including in South Asia, are 15 times more likely to die from climate impact, he continued.
“Rich countries must step up adaptation finance,” he said. “At least half of all climate financing must go to adaptation and climate resilience for countries like Pakistan to be able to face the next floods in a way that protects their citizens and economy”.
The UN chief also stressed the importance of creating new debt relief mechanisms for countries like Pakistan.
“I have been strongly advocating for debt swaps where a country, instead of paying debt toits creditors, uses that money to invest in climate resilience and investments in sustainable infrastructure,” he said, adding that this was exactly what Pakistan needed.
“We will go with this proposal during our meetings with the IMF and the world this month and the G20 session later this year,” he added.
In response to a question, the UN chief said it was difficult to ascertain how quickly Pakistan can recover from the climate carnage.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also urged flood-affected people that the government was fully aware of people’s sufferings.
“The federal and provincial governments would fully assist and support them [flood affectees] in this hour of distress,” he said. “While Rs70 billion was allocated by the federal government and is being disbursed among each flood-affected family through the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP),” he added.
Addressing the joint press conference with UNSG, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the climate change issue that affects the world today, which caused a disastrous monsoon season in Pakistan, was the result of industrialization in countries far bigger than Pakistan.
“So, this crisis is not solely of our making, surely the response to this crisis must also be a global response,” he said, adding that with the help of the UN secretary-general, Pakistan is looking forward to working with the global community to build itself better.
