Pakistan flood recovery conference a ‘good’ sign on the climate agenda
Geneva SolutionsJan 11, 2023
On Monday, private donors and financial institutions pledged more than $9B to help Pakistan recover from last year's devastating floods.
Major donors reportedly included the Islamic Development Bank ($4.2B), World Bank ($2B), the Asian Development Bank ($1.5B), and Saudi Arabia ($1B).
Although Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of global greenhouse emissions, it is deeply impacted by climate-induced disasters. Last year's floods were a focus at COP27, where Pakistan led developing nations in the push to set up the "loss and damages" fund for climate reparations. The Geneva Conference was a test case of how willing developed countries are to assist developing countries. The West, fortunately, passed the test with flying colors.
Being reliant on ad hoc aid from the international community and its institutions is not enough for Pakistan. Floods affect about 715K residents annually, and by 2030, the number is projected to reach 2.7M. The total financial loss of these floods projects to almost 1% of Islamabad's Gross Domestic Product annually. Pakistan must take its climate issues into its own hands — working on early warning systems and water policies — but it deserves more than aid; it deserves full climate reparations.
There's a 50% chance that the total damage incurred by climate change during the 21st century will be at least 8.84% of world GDP, according to the Metaculus prediction community.