According to Pakistan’s prime minister, who says he came to the United Nations this year to tell the world, “Yesterday, one-third of Pakistan is under water and 33 million of its people have fled to survive. Tragedy can also befall any other country.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press, Shahbaz Sharif urged world leaders gathered for their annual session at the General Assembly to stand together and pool resources to “build resilient infrastructure, build resilience.” So, to save our future generations.”
Prime Minister Sharif said the initial estimate of economic damage from the three-month flood disaster was $30 billion, and on Thursday asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to hold an early donors’ conference. Prime Minister Sharif said that the head of the United Nations agreed.
“Thousands of kilometers of roads have been broken, washed away – railway bridges, railway tracks, communications, underpasses, transport. Funds are needed for all this,” said Prime Minister Sharif. “We need to provide livelihood to our people. Funds are needed for this.”
While climate change predicted a 50 percent increase in rainfall in Pakistan’s two southern provinces at the end of last month, global warming is responsible for all of the country’s devastating floods, according to a new scientific analysis. There was no greater reason. Pakistan’s overall vulnerability, including those in harm’s way, was a key factor.
But human-caused climate change “plays a really important role here,” said study senior author Friedrich Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London, earlier this month.
Be that as it may, Prime Minister Sharif said that their impact on the country is huge. More than 1,600 people, including hundreds of children, have been killed. Standing crops on 40 lakh acres were washed away. Millions of homes have been damaged or completely destroyed and life savings wiped out in catastrophic floods resulting from monsoon rains.
Describing Pakistan as a victim of climate change made worse by the actions of other countries, Prime Minister Sharif said Pakistan is responsible for less than 1 percent of the carbon emissions that cause global warming. “We are, victims of something we have nothing to do with,” the prime minister said.
He echoed those sentiments when he addressed fellow leaders at the General Assembly on Friday afternoon, telling them that other places lie ahead. He said that one thing is very clear. What happened in Pakistan will not stay in Pakistan.
Money, food
Even before the floods began in mid-June, Pakistan was facing serious challenges from food shortages and skyrocketing crude oil prices, mainly due to Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine and the war that followed. Born from Prime Minister Sharif said skyrocketing prices had put oil imports “beyond our means” and – with widespread flood damage and destruction – solutions had become “extremely difficult”.
Due to the destruction of agricultural land, Pakistan may have to import about one million tons of wheat. He said it could come from Russia, but the country is open to other offers. The country also needs fertilizers as factories involved in their production are closed.
Prime Minister Sharif said the country “already has a very robust, transparent mechanism” to ensure that all relief items reach the people in need. Besides, he said, “I will ensure a third-party audit of every penny by internationally reputed companies.”
The Pakistani leader said he met top officials of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and appealed for deferment of loan repayments and other conditions until the flood situation improves.
Prime Minister Sharif said he “seemed very supportive,” but stressed that a delay “could have huge consequences” — both for the economy and the Pakistani people.
