Climate conference.

PRIME MINISTER Shehbaz Sharif and a delegation of senior ministers are scheduled to attend an important conference in Geneva early next week. Jointly hosted by the UN and Pakistan, the International Conference on Climate-Resilient Pakistan is a platform where this country will make its case to the international community for donations towards flood rehabilitation. Sadly, despite the continuing hardship of millions of displaced and affected citizens, the setting in of donor fatigue means that aid and support to vulnerable people, and a roadmap for long-term rehabilitation, remains out of reach. For an economy heavily dependent on agriculture, the floods have been a huge setback. Some estimates put the damage to infrastructure and the economy at $30bn. A World Bank assessment following the floods said the need for resilient rehabilitation and reconstruction would require $16.3bn, which doesn't include new investments to support the country on its path of climate change adaptation and building overall resilience to climate shocks.

Though the devastation has been at a frightening scale and unprecedented, there is a lull in support from the international community. This conference is an opportunity for donor countries to make good on their pledges that climate change is a global problem, and not one that can be tackled alone. Pakistan is not on the list of the world's highest emitters...