This is one of the advances of the COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh: the creation of an aid fund for the countries most affected by climate change. Except that this fund does not yet exist. How, then, to help a country particularly threatened by global warming like Pakistan, ravaged by historic floods in 2022… The UN is organizing an international conference in Geneva on Monday January 9 for the reconstruction of the country. And the needs are enormous.
With our correspondent in Geneva, Jeremiah Lance
The figures make you dizzy: 33 million Pakistanis affected by the floods, 8 million displaced, at least 1,700 dead, thousands of kilometers of roads and railways destroyed. So much for the human and material balance sheet. But the worst may be yet to come. This is what the representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Pakistan, Knut Ostby fears: Nine million more people could be pushed into poverty by the floods. They have not only destroyed part of the agricultural harvest but they prevent farmers from planting for next year. The price of food will therefore increase. And that could double the number of food insecure people. From 7 million today to over 14 million. »
The water hasn’t receded everywhere yet. More than six months after the disaster. The UN estimates that the reconstruction will cost more than 16 billion dollars. These are the losses and damages, which were at the center of the discussions during the COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh. That’s about four times what the UN is asking for Ukraine in 2023.