Pakistan has faced unprecedented challenges over the last spring and summer — a historic heat wave that lasted two months, followed by unusual monsoon rains that resulted in widespread flooding.
Pakistan’s crisis highlights the devastating consequences of inadequate action on climate change from the world’s biggest economies — which are also the primary contributor to greenhouse gases emissions. And it is also a reminder that it is the lower-income countries that will mostly bear the costs of these catastrophic events.
With one-third of the country still submerged under water, the government of Pakistan currently estimates the damages of the floods at more than $30 billion — three times its earlier estimate of $10 billion. The calamity has affected and displaced tens of millions, and claimed nearly 1,400 lives.