Climate Carnage in Pakistan: Education Under Threat
‘Climate carnage beyond imagination’ was how UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the flooding he witnessed in his tour of Pakistan. He urged the world to act in response to the ‘grim calculus of climate injustice’; how was it right that a country responsible for less than 1% of emissions was suffering so much from the impact of climate change?
As we wrote in August, Pakistan is suffering from the worst floods in its history. Now, in October 2022, as the global news cycle moves on, the impacts remain devastating - according to the UN, over 20 million people are in need and as of October 27th 1731 are dead including 645 children.
In response the UN recently revised its appeal to ask the world for $816 million to help Pakistan rebuild, although estimates suggests damage will cost far more.
Our video, above, which will be shown in the Blue Zone of COP27 in Egypt this year, focuses on just one of the many areas in need: education.
The facts for education are equally grim. Over 26,000 schools are completely or partially damaged putting nearly 12 million children’s education at risk. Children face trauma and a loss of learning on an unprecedented scale. The UN estimates that over 2 million children are in urgent need of emergency support, and have appealed for $40.6 million. Yet this support would only reach 700,000 children at best and as of 20th October only 22% of requested funds had been received.
Despite these impacts Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of global emissions. As COP27 approaches and Pakistan’s terrifying task of rebuilding from this devastation begins, it begs the question: what is ‘loss and damage’, if not this?
Climate Finance Scorecard from ‘A fair share of climate finance? An appraisal of past performance, future pledges and prospective contributors’ (ODI, June 2022) Research by the Overseas Development Institute (above) shows a very mixed picture of climate finance commitments from the developed world, with many of the biggest polluters falling far short. This needs to change. As Mosharraf Zaidi writes:
“What is the responsibility of the global north in the kind of devastation we are seeing in Pakistan today?” As those in the West observe the calamity of these floods descending upon the people of Pakistan, that is the question most likely to have an effect on ensuring that the loss and damage of climate change is addressed by those with the means to do so. That neither was, nor is, Pakistan.
At both COP27 and beyond there needs to be serious steps taken to redress the climate injustice such as that faced by Pakistan. As keeping global temperatures below 1.5C seems increasingly challenging, it is clear that these disasters will increasing in frequency and ferocity. The latest UNFCCC report states:
‘the international community is falling far short of the Paris goals, with no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place. Only an urgent system-wide transformation can avoid climate disaster.’
Sustained finance, adaptation and resilience measures are desperately needed in all sectors including in education (to find out more: UNICEF have a series of excellent reports on building climate resilient education systems in Pakistan and South Asia)
The video footage speaks for itself. We are grateful for videos drawn from across Pakistan and especially those provided by the National Commission for Human Development who, like so many organisations, have been working tirelessly across Pakistan to urgently respond to children’s needs.