The climate challenge.

The climate change phenomenon admittedly poses an existential threat to human beings on earth and the devastation caused by floods in Pakistan is a strong reminder to the world community to make sincere and collective efforts to deal with it before it is too late. It is estimated that the floods impacted 33 million people-the size of three European countries-with more than half being women and children, destroyed over 8,000 kilometres of highways, damaged more than 3,000 kilometres of railway tracks, and washed away crops over four million acres. According to the assessments made so far in terms of money, the losses were well over US$ 30 billion. Pakistan suffered from the man-made disaster even though it contributed less than one percent to the emission of greenhouse gases responsible for orchestrating global warming and climate change. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif while informing the participants of the COP 27 Summit about these losses was right on the money to emphasise that Pakistan needed additional funding, not debts, to rebuild a resilient and adaptive infrastructure as the financing gap was widening by the day. He called for climate finance for developing and vulnerable countries. He also thanked the international community for extending assistance to Pakistan to carry out its rescue and relief operations. However, he reiterated that the country had to import wheat, palm oil, oil, and gas besides redirecting its resources to meet the basic needs of millions of flood-affected households. He posed a question: how could one expect Pakistan to carry out this gigantic task on its own?

He deservedly and justifiably emphasised prioritising the Global Goal of Adaptation both in terms of financing and timelines. It is pertinent to mention that it is for the first time that the COP has agreed to formally discuss funding arrangements for loss and damage, as a result of a persistent push by the developing countries under Pakistan's chairmanship of Group of 77 and China. He undoubtedly made a strong case for the need by the countries responsible for global warming not only to realise their responsibility to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases but also to extend adequate financial and technical assistance to the developing countries who were badly affected by the climate change phenomenon. He was right on the mark to stress that COP was the only platform where the vulnerable countries could plead their case to the rich and the resourced, to...