UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had never seen a “climate massacre”, according to what AFP published on Saturday, September 10, 2022, during an inspection of the flooded areas of southern Pakistan. To this extent, rich countries are blamed.
Floods caused by torrential monsoon rains have submerged a third of the country since last June, killing around 1,400 people and damaging agricultural products, housing, commercial establishments, roads and bridges.
“I have seen many human disasters in the world, but I have never witnessed a climatic massacre of this magnitude,” Guterres said at a press conference in the port of Karachi after surveying the devastation in the flooded areas of southern Pakistan. . “.
Guterres hopes his visit will help Pakistan, which is estimated to need at least $10 billion to repair or rebuild damaged or destroyed infrastructure, an amount that the country cannot provide on its own at a time when it is saddled with a huge debt burden. .
He emphasized: “Rich countries have a moral responsibility to help developing countries like Pakistan to recover from such disasters and adapt to achieve resistance to climate impacts that will unfortunately be repeated in the future.”
He pointed out: Today, G20 countries account for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions.
Although Pakistan is responsible for less than 1 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, it is eighth on a list by the German NGO Watch of countries most at risk of extreme weather events from climate change.
While the floods affected more than 33 million people who were left homeless and unable to meet their basic needs, while about two million homes and commercial establishments were destroyed, 7,000 km of roads were submerged and 500 The bridge was also flooded.
On the other hand, according to the meteorological department, this year Pakistan recorded five times more than normal seasonal rainfall and the rains caused rivers to overflow in the mountainous north and many roads, bridges and buildings were washed away. It accumulated in the southern plains and flooded hundreds of thousands of kilometers of land.
Hundreds of camps have also been set up in the rare remaining dry areas in the south and west of the country, and there are fears of epidemics as people and their livestock flock to these hasty camps, especially since there are cases of malaria and scabies. . have been reported.
Guterres, on the other hand, stopped at some of these makeshift camps during his short trip, met with flood victims and then visited the historic city of Mohenjo-daro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which was damaged by torrential rains.
Source: Lebanon Debate
