COP27 summit: UN chief urges world to support flood-hit Pakistan

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has urged the international community to extend massive support to Pakistan for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood affected areas after the South Asian country witnessed record deluges triggered by climate change this year.

The UN chief was addressing a joint news conference along with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Sharm Al Sheikh, Egypt, where the delegates from nearly 200 countries are gathered to attend the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP27.

PM Shehbaz co-chaired COP27 as Egyptian President Abdul Fattah El-Sisi had offered it to Pakistan after he launched an international campaign to raise awareness about climate change in the wake of floods that killed over 1,700 people, affected 33 million in the South Asia country.

The UN Secretary General said the loss and damage suffered by Pakistan deserved to be considered as a reality and recognised through financial mechanisms, hoping the climate implementation conference will be able to find a way in this regard.

He stressed that Pakistan should have access to effective debt relief and the concessional funding to carry out the huge task of reconstruction and rehabilitation.

He appealed the international financial institutions and the G-20 countries to create conditions for mechanisms of debt relief for middle income countries impacted by natural disasters to allow resources to be invested in resilience and in recovery and reconstruction.

The UN Secretary General said Pakistan being a middle income country has not benefited from debt relief at the level that should be necessary for the country. He said he has been making proposals of debt swap for countries like Pakistan so that investments could be made in rehabilitation and recovery and reconstruction from a natural disaster.

Expressing full solidarity, he said the UN will be side by side with Pakistan.

He said the UN is proud to be associated with Pakistan for the international donor conference in which we will try to obtain massive support from the international community for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas impacted by the tragic events.

He said the climate implementation summit also needs to define a clear roadmap to deal with the issue of climate change.  This should include the creation of an institutional framework and financing in order to address the problems of loss and damage. He hoped that Pakistan will be able to benefit from these developments.

Addressing the presser, PM Shehbaz Sharif also called for collective efforts to deal with the challenge of climate change.

Referring to the devastation caused by the floods, he highlighted that millions of people in Pakistan are going into winter without shelter or livelihood which is their fundamental right. He said women and children are still looking to us to protect their needs.

Alluding to the problems posed by floods such as stagnant water and water borne diseases, he said Pakistan is grateful to the UN agencies and development partners for supporting us in this unprecedented crisis but this climate carnage is very huge.

Shehbaz Sharif mentioned that our journey to recovery will be held back by increasing public debt, rising international energy prices and no real access to adaptation fund, Radio Pakistan reported.