Pakistan Reels from Devastating Climate Change Impacts, Left with Loans Instead of Global Assistance

Shiite News: Express News quoted those serious revelations have come to light in the meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament on the disastrous effects of climate change in Pakistan and funding issues.
The meeting was chaired by Junaid Akbar, while the Chairman NDMA gave a detailed briefing on the current situation in the country and future threats.
The Chairman NDMA said that Pakistan is severely affected by the effects of climate change and the intensity may increase by 22 percent in the coming year.
If the temperature continues to rise, the country’s 7,500 glaciers will start melting rapidly, which will lead to problems of drought, food security and water shortage.

He warned that areas like Chitral North and South and Skardu could prove to be more dangerous in the future.

He further said that the current monsoon pressure will continue till September 10, water reserves are being continuously monitored and 150,000 people have been shifted to safer places from the Sutlej area so far. 2100 tons of relief materials have also been sent to various affected areas, while the damaged areas in Gilgit-Baltistan will be reconstructed.
In the PAC meeting, Junaid Akbar raised tough questions and said that Pakistan’s contribution to global environmental pollution is negligible but we are the ones who are suffering the most.
He complained that due to developed countries, we are suffering the punishment of climate change, but in return we are not getting aid but only loans.
During the briefing in the meeting, it was reported that after the floods, the world had promised to give Pakistan $10.98 billion, including $8.9 billion from multilateral institutions and $1.4 billion from bilateral commitments, but in practice most of the money was given in the form of loans, while only $2.1 million was received as a grant. Saudi Arabia provided an oil loan of $1 billion and received a total of $930 million in temporary funding.

According to the Secretary for Economic Affairs, the needs of $16 billion were estimated after the floods, of which $8 billion was planned to be taken from the country itself and $8 billion from international institutions.
However, according to the briefing, major commitments from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank were also mostly in the form of loans.

It was also said in the meeting that to avoid the losses of climate change, not only immediate rescue and relief is needed, but long-term planning must also be done so that future disasters can be reduced.