Areesha Nisar
UN Chief Guterres mentioned Pakistan as a litmus test for climate justice, is now forgotten. The devastating flood of 2022 due to which one third of the country was under water. Flood so biblical that over 33 million people were affected, a staggering number close to population of Canada.Millions striped off their homes and livelihoods. Over 2000 killed and those who survived could only look ahead to food insecurity, famine, climate migration and conflict.
But infighting way forward as the scale of devastation becomes apparent, the sense of climate injustice is mounting. Pakistan emits less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gasses and yet it is consistently among the countries most vulnerable to climate related disasters. Calls are growing for the Global North to compensate Global South for the fact that high emitting activities in developed countries are leading to catastrophic climate change linked events in developing countries.
Since the Industrial Revolution, today’s wealthy nations have benefited from high emitting activities. The G 20 are still responsible for 80 percent of global greenhouse emissions. The logic is simple! Industrial nations that have benefited from fossil fuel driven development should be the ones to pay the bill when climate disaster strikes poor countries such as Pakistan .This idea is not new and not it is particularly controversial. In 2009, developed countries promised to mobilise $100bn in climate finance to support emerging economies. It was then confirmed in the Paris Agreement in 2015 and then again in COP 27. But this funding was never materialised and so the demands for reparations. Pakistan needed $30bn after the the 2020 flood but $10bn were pledged by rich nations.Delays in this aid undermined theefforts of people to rebuild their lives .
69 percent of the target was met but a large part of it was loans. It made Pakistan a double victim of climate injustice as well as the unjust and outdated global financial system. It was not charity but a credit which is still due as Pakistan is a climate creditor, having polluted marginally. Demanding reparations also means bringing forward a clean green vision.
A more expensive definition of reparations should be adopted taking the form of funding fir emerging relief of ‘loss and damage’ as in COP 27 but also include technical assistance, adaptation planning and the skills development needed to tackle the climate challenge. Developing countries should provide funding but they should also provide access to green technologies that can help countries such as Pakistan catch up, but without high emissions. A new era of Climate diplomacy is needed, recognising that climate change can be adapted, mitigated and build resilience to, but only if it’s done together. COP28 also has a new Declaration on Climate,Relief, Recovery andPeace.
This topic has relevance to Pakistan. According to Pakistan Institute of Conflict and Security Studies, our country witnessed 34 percent militants attack increase in November. The focus was primarily on the fact that food and water scarcity leads to competition which in turn lead to conflict causing security concerns. Now there is growing awareness that security forces are distracted from their primary focus in climate disasters as they are pulled into rescue missions and reconstruction efforts. The NATO SC Jens Stoltenberg said at COP28 that Climate Security is going to be NATO’s top agenda. As Pakistan is eyeing Loss and Damage fund support to build climate resilience , there is need to pay close attention to plan for better climate disasters tackling procedure, it must uphold the principles of justice , fairness and compassion in its pursuit of a more sustainable and resilient future . Global North should fulfil its promises. The stakes could not be higher, and the time for action is now.
