Pakistan’s summer of calamity shows climate change is no longer a threat – it’s a reality

As Pakistan grapples with the devastating effects of the worst disaster in its history, Islamic Relief’s head of global advocacy Shahin Ashraf sounds a clarion call for climate action.

Shahin Ashraf, Islamic Relief’s head of global advocacy.

Pakistan is in the grip of a natural disaster on a scale the country has never seen before. Terrible floods on an unprecedented scale are engulfing communities, forcing millions of people from their homes, destroying water sources, and wiping out crops and livestock needed to feed families.

Visiting Pakistan to support Islamic Relief’s emergency response, our CEO has reported horrifying scenes of devastation. Waseem Ahmad has told of rivers flowing over whole communities and families facing dire conditions in makeshift shelters hastily erected on any high ground they can find.

Rescue and relief efforts are painfully slow to reach families in crisis, as surging waters have swept away roads and bridges.

A staggering one-third of the country is said to be currently underwater, and 33 million people are affected. The numbers are horrifying, but sadly unsurprising. Unfortunately, this is very much a disaster that we have feared to be waiting to happen for some time.

The world’s inaction has led to Pakistan’s summer of calamity

June saw the rainy season begin early in Pakistan, becoming what its government later labelled a “monster monsoon of the decade” and the UN Secretary-General has now memorably called “a monsoon on steroids”. In July a heatwave baked the country, destroying orchards, turning fertile farms into barren land, and triggering the rapid melting of glaciers – of which Pakistan has more than 7,000. Unusually intense monsoon rains saw glaciers burst, sending water surging into rivers, which burst their banks and deluged the land.

However, the seeds of the disaster were sown long before this summer of calamity.

World leaders have dithered, procrastinated, and delayed the climate action that many, including Islamic Relief, have long called for. We advocated for change at last year’s pivotal climate conference, COP26. This latest disastrous summer is yet another eye opener for the global community to witness the consequences of climate inaction, and it is an ominous portent of what humanity faces if immediate and dramatic steps are not taken to cut carbon emissions and restore ecosystems.

Yet the bold, urgent action needed to end irresponsible environmental practices has not materialised.
Pakistan remains among the top 10 countries most vulnerable to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. It is subject to a vast array of natural and human-induced hazards, which have caused numerous waves of internal displacement and internal migration.

Now the country, which produces less than 1% of the world’s carbon footprint, is paying the price for the world’s inaction.

Ubaid and his family have been living in a tent since floods took their home in Balochistan.

The most vulnerable are worst hit

Ultimately those hit hardest are the families who have lost everything in this latest disaster and the children facing futures more precarious than ever before. For them, climate change is no longer an abstract notion of melting ice caps or wildfires in some faraway land. It is not a fictional scene in an apocalyptic movie or dystopian novel.

It is their reality, and for that, the world should be ashamed.

In the aftermath of this disaster, Pakistan’s shortages of food, water and energy will become even more acute. The health challenges are already escalating, with hospitals and clinics damaged and life-threatening diseases including malaria and waterborne infections already on the rise.

Heartbreakingly, it is the country’s most vulnerable who will suffer the most.

Support for humanitarian efforts urgently needed

Islamic Relief is calling on the international community to respond swiftly to help those suffering in Pakistan. Emergency shelter, food, clean water, healthcare and cash transfers are all desperately needed.
Working around the clock to provide life-saving aid, Islamic Relief has already reached 20,000 flood-affected people, but the humanitarian needs are vast and funding is falling woefully short. More targeted funding is urgently needed so we can reach more of the families teetering on the brink of survival.

A coordinated response to the crisis is also vital. Islamic Relief are leading the way in coordinating efforts under the auspices of the United Nations and national authorities, and we urge all aid agencies to work together in a joined-up way.

It is time to wake up and act

Beyond meeting the urgent humanitarian needs arising from this disaster, it is critical that the world sees this moment as a wake-up call, and acts now to avert future, even more catastrophic disasters.

Countries that have added the most to climate change should now step up and support efforts to equip communities on the frontline of the climate emergency to adapt to its effects. Places that are most prone to the negative impact of a changing climate should invest urgently in improving resilience, working closely with communities to introduce better early warning and disaster management systems as well as protective infrastructure such as flood defences and restoring forests and wetlands.

The world failed to prevent the disaster sweeping across Pakistan. This must be the last time we accept such failure. The time to act is right now.

Support Islamic Relief’s life-saving work: donate to our Pakistan floods appeal now.