PAKISTAN: EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS EXEMPLIFY THE URGENT NEED TO OPERATIONALIZE THE LOSS AND DAMAGE FUND

Heavy rainfall and snow across the country has resulted in the loss of 40 lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, five deaths in Balochistan and left dozens injured since 26 February. The disasters have also resulted in massive loss of homes, livestock, crops and infrastructures

Responding to the unexpected and deadly rains and snowfall in Pakistan which have resulted in the death of at least 45 people, including at least 27 children, Ann Harrison, Climate Justice Advisor at Amnesty International, said:

“The recent extreme weather events exemplify the acute climate vulnerability that Pakistan faces as well as the lack of preparedness for communities and populations most at risk. The unfortunate huge loss of children’s lives underscores the fact that the young are particularly in danger due to these changes.

Delays to appointing the 26-member board for the Loss and Damage Fund and for it to begin meeting must not be allowed to derail the entire 2024 timeline set out for the operationalization of the fund.

Ann Harrison, Climate Justice Advisor at Amnesty International

“Hundreds of homes have been completely destroyed and food crops disrupted by the heavy and unseasonal rains and snowfall in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, areas that are still reeling from the devastating aftermath of the 2022 floods in the country. Amnesty urges the government to not simply provide urgent relief support but also rehabilitative assistance to ensure that communities are able to rebuild their lives and ensure food security.

“This burden is not Pakistan’s to bear alone, the international community must prioritize ensuring the rapid operationalization and capitalization of the international Loss and Damage Fund to ensure that climate-vulnerable countries such as Pakistan are given the support they need to address the unavoidable impacts of climate change that they are not responsible for.

“Delays to appointing the 26-member board for the Loss and Damage Fund and for it to begin meeting must not be allowed to derail the entire 2024 timeline set out for the operationalization of the fund.”

BACKGROUND:

Heavy rainfall and snow across the country has resulted in the loss of 40 lives in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, five deaths in Balochistan and left dozens injured since 26 February. The disasters have also resulted in massive loss of homes, livestock, crops and infrastructures.

An agreement to establish the Loss and Damage Fund was reached at COP27 in 2022. Some states pledged very limited financing to the fund at COP28 in Dubai last year, amounts dwarfed by the total US$7 trillion in subsidies that many states, including some of these donors, provide annually to support the fossil fuel industry.

Billions of dollars of finance are needed to adequately capitalize the Fund so that distribution of funds can begin. Higher income states with the greatest responsibility for historical greenhouse gas emissions and other high income fossil fuel producing states must rapidly scale up their provision of adequate, predictable, new and additional financing, primarily in the form of grants, not loans, for affected individuals and communities, particularly in lower income states, to access the support needed to address existing and future climate change induced loss and damage.