The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Friday, appealed to world leaders at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, to unite efforts to help the country recover from the devastation caused by the torrential rains that have so far killed more than 1,500 people, including 552 children.
“There are no words to describe the shock we went through nor how our country has changed,” said Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, adding that “Pakistan has not seen such a powerful and devastating example of the global warming effect,” which has left a third of a country under water.
The Pakistani Prime Minister indicated that in the wake of what he described as a “climate catastrophe”, about 33 million people are now at risk of contracting diseases due to the retreat of flood waters caused by heavy rains, and that “at this time”, millions of migrants are still due to The climate is looking for dry land to set up their shelters.”
The official explained that one million homes were destroyed, and nearly two million hectares of crops were destroyed, increasing the risk of food insecurity in the country.
“Life in Pakistan has changed forever,” Sharif judged, and left unequivocal criticism of the more industrialized countries and those that contribute most to increasing greenhouse gas emissions: “Nature has unleashed its wrath on Pakistan without looking at our carbon footprint, which is close to zero. “.
“Our actions did not contribute to this.”
On 9 and 10 September, the Secretary-General of the United Nations visited the areas most affected by the monsoons in Pakistan. Against the backdrop of the devastation he witnessed with his own eyes, António Guterres declared, “I have seen many humanitarian disasters in the world, but I have never seen a climate massacre of this magnitude.”
Babar Baloch of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that it will take six months for the floodwaters to finally recede.
