‘Paying the price for inaction’: Pakistan flood survivors urge more climate compensation

‘A few years ago we did not even know about climate change and now it has changed our lives forever,’ says Pakistan flooding survivor Ahmed Riaz

“What goes on in Pakistan won’t stay in Pakistan”’ – that’s the bleak message Islamabad is displaying on its pavilion set up at the red sea town of Sharm el-Sheikh where leaders from around the world have gathered for the United Nations climate summit.

It’s a reminder that climate disasters, and their impact, aren’t limited to poor countries and now is the time to act. This year’s UN summit, called the 27th Conference of Parties or Cop27, is being held as the world faces a number of interconnected crises: the warming climate, food shortages, sky-high energy prices, and the Russian war on Ukraine.

But as the leaders from over a hundred countries gathered at the resort town on Monday, all eyes were on Shahbaz Sharif, prime minister of Pakistan, as he described the summer floods that caused at least $40 billion in damage and displaced millions of people, driving the renewed focus on climate compensation at this year’s conference.

This is the first time the UN climate negotiations included Loss and Damage - a technical term referring to the irreparable losses communities around the world are suffering because of the climate crisis - as an agenda item to be discussed at the two-week summit.

This was a historic turn for climate negotiations that have been running for almost three decades now, with the focus now turning from just trying to avert the crisis to also addressing the injustices unleashed on vulnerable communities who are at the frontline of facing the impacts of a warming planet despite having a negligible role in creating the crisis.

The inclusion of Loss and Damage spread a wave of excitement among thousands of activists from various countries gathered here at Sharm el-Sheikh with some seeing a ray of hope while others warned there is still a long way to go before the fund becomes a reality.

Farooq Sayyad, a 22-year-old student from Pakistan’s impoverished Balochistan province who is attending the UN climate summit for the first time says he has no idea what the loss and damage fund is, but shares that his community is still living underwater from the massive flooding in August.

“We are here to tell the world what people in our areas are going through, our houses are still underwater and our lives have not gone back to normal since the flooding hit,” he says speaking from the first-ever Youth and Children pavilion set up at the venue. “It’s going to take us years to recover.”

Rahma, another teen who is attending the summit for the first time, said she feels sceptical of any promises made in these conferences.

“We were told billions of dollars were being sent to Pakistan as flood relief, where did all the money go? People in my neighbourhood are still living in broken houses. I don’t know how much of the money they are going to promise now is actually going to help us.”

The South Asian country is responsible for less than 1 per cent of the world’s planet-warming emissions, but it is paying a heavy price. And there are many other countries like it around the world.

Flood survivors from Pakistan stand at the Youth and Children pavilion at Cop27 summit (Stuti Mishra/The Independent)

Many activists from Pakistan couldn’t make it to this year’s conference despite its relevance for their own country due to skyrocketing costs. But those who did found the lack of focus on victims of disasters “surprising”.

“A few years ago we did not even know about climate change and now it has changed our lives forever. Millions of people are suffering but if you look around here it seems like business as usual,” says Ahmed Riaz, a 19-year-old Pakistani flood survivor.

Other activists shared similar scepticism of the international process and their own government as well. However, experts say it is the responsibility of world leaders to reinstate trust in the multilateral system which has been eroded over time.

“The onus is on world leaders because they have failed and eroded the trust,” says Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy as Climate Action Network International. “They have to send a message of hope and reinstate the trust in the multilateral system.”

Mr Singh adds that while the inclusion of Loss and Damage is a win, it should have happened “at least 10 years ago”.

Loss and damage reparations are not a new ask. Developing countries and small island states have been pressing for such funds since 1991 but the rich nations have so far dodged the demands.

‘What goes on Pakistan won’t stay in Pakistan’ Islamabad’s pavilion at the Cop27 summit displays a bleak message (Stuti Mishra/The Independent)

Wealthy nations have been ignoring the calls out of concerns that paying for such a fund could be seen as an admission of liability, which may trigger legal battles. The language for the agenda this year, which was a result of gruelling hours-long negotiations on Sunday night, is also carefully crafted and does not make any mention of legal liability.

Mr Singh says that while the next two weeks will be focused on the shape and financing of the fund, the principle of rich countries owing money to poor communities is what matters.

“It is time for the world to understand that our actions and inaction have repercussions. We are paying today because of our inaction in the past,” he adds.

Pakistan’s prime minister Shahbaz Sharif, who addressed the media along with UN secretary general Antonio Guterres, also once again raised the issue of funding.

“Don’t let [our] helplessness become a death sentence,” Mr Sharif urged, as he explained the billions of dollars worth of losses the country has suffered in the floods.

This story was published with the support of ClimateTracker's COP27 Climate Justice Journalism Fellowship