STORYLINE

Guterres urges radical global finance shake-up to help Pakistan after deadly floods

UN-led efforts to encourage the international community to stand with Pakistan after deadly floods last summer continued on Monday in Geneva, where Secretary-General António Guterres urged radical reform of the global financial system, in favour of developing countries.

“If there is any doubt about loss and damage, go to Pakistan,” he told delegates at the International Conference on climate resilient Pakistan. “There is loss. There is damage. The devastation of climate change is real. From floods and droughts to cyclones and torrential rains. And as always, those countries least responsible are the first to suffer.”

More than 33 million people were affected by the flooding in Sindh and Balochistan, which is widely regarded to have been Pakistan’s greatest climate disaster.

Even today, months after the initial emergency, the floodwaters have only partly receded and the disaster is far from over for some eight million people who were forced to flee the rising waters, which also killed more than 1,700 people.

Catastrophic damage on a massive scale

More than 2.2 million homes were destroyed along 13 per cent of health facilities, 4.4 million acres of crops and more than 8,000 kilometres of roads and other vital infrastructure, including around 440 bridges.

The cost of helping communities hit in every conceivable way by the unprecedented monsoon rains in Pakistan that began last June “will run in excess of $16 billion, and far more will be needed in the longer term”, the UN Secretary-General said.

Vulnerable children impacted

In parallel with the conference in Geneva, UN children’s fund UNICEF underlined the ongoing human cost of the emergency in Pakistan.

“Up to four million children are still living near contaminated and stagnant flood waters, risking their survival and wellbeing,” the UN agency said.

Acute respiratory infections had “skyrocketed” in areas affected by flooding, UNICEF continued, while the number children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the same areas nearly doubled between July and December, compared to 2021, leaving some 1.5 million youngsters still in need of lifesaving nutrition interventions.

Paying over the odds

Reiterating the need to help developing countries such as Pakistan become more resilient to the impacts of climate change, the UN chief insisted that the international banking system needed reform “to right a fundamental wrong”.

He added: “Pakistan is doubly victimized by climate chaos and a morally bankrupt global financial system. That system routinely denies middle-income countries the debt relief and concessional funding needed to invest in resilience against natural disasters. And so we need creative ways for developing countries to access debt relief and concessional financing when they need it the most.”

At Mr. Guterres’s side, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif explained why his country needed international solidarity now, more than ever. “We need to get 33 million people who are deeply affected by the floods their future back,” he said. “Their families must stand on their feet and they must come back in life and earn their livelihood.”

‘Tomorrow, we could be the ones who need help’

Representing conference host country Switzerland, Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis reasoned that supporting those countries impacted by natural disasters was enlightened common sense: “Today, it’s you, Pakistan, that needs help. But tomorrow, it could be us, all of us. One thing is certain: none of us is safe. We are all concerned by climate change, a global threat that requires a global response.”

Echoing that appeal for solidarity among nations, French President Emmanuel Macron joined the conference by video link to announce that €360 million had been pledged by France “to respond to the challenge of resilience rebuilding and climate adaptation”. But the French President also noted that only 30 per cent of the UN’s emergency funding appeals had been provided, just as winter temperatures have plunged.

UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Achim Steiner highlighted the scale of the global threat posed by climate change and the relevance of the need to find climate adaptation funding for developing countries: “Look to the east, in Australia, extraordinary flood events; look to the west in California, extreme weather events, look to Europe, and people are wondering what happened to snow in winter, we are living in profoundly changing times.”

ends

STORY: The International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan – Opening Remarks

TRT: 2 min 57s

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/FRENCH/NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 9 January 2023, Geneva, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST 

1. Wide, UN Geneva flag alley.
2. Wide, conference rostrum beneath large screen showing film on Pakistan floods disaster.
3. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UN Secretary-General António Guterres: “Rebuilding Pakistan in a resilient way will run in excess of $16 billion, and far more will be needed in the longer term.”
4. Medium, delegates including heads of UN agencies Filippo Grandi (UNCHR) and Qu Dongyu (FAO).
5. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UN Secretary-General António Guterres: “If there is any doubt about loss and damage, go to Pakistan. There is loss. There is damage. The devastation of climate change is real. From floods and droughts to cyclones and torrential rains. And as always, those developing countries least responsible are the first to suffer.”
6. Medium, delegates, side shot.
7. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), UN Secretary-General António Guterres: ”And we also need to right a fundamental wrong. Pakistan is doubly victimized by climate chaos and a morally bankrupt global financial system. That system routinely denies middle-income countries the debt relief and concessional funding needed to invest in resilience against natural disasters. And so we need creative ways for developing countries to access debt relief and concessional financing when they need it the most.”
8. Medium, speakers’ rostrum, side shot.
9. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif: “We need to get 33 million people who are deeply affected by the floods their future back; their families must stand on their feet and they must come back in life and earn their livelihood.”
10. Medium, Pakistan Minister of Foreign Affairs Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
11. SOUNDBITE (FRENCH) Switerland Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis: “Aujourd’hui c’est vous, le Pakistan, qui a besoin d’aide. Mais demain, c’est peut-être nous, nous tous. Une seule chose est sûre, personne n’est à l’abri. Nous sommes touts et tous concernés par le dérèglement du climat, un risque global qui nécessite une action globale.”
12. Medium, Swiss delegate.
13. SOUNDBITE (FRENCH) French President Emmanual Macron: “Au Pakistan, nous avons donc décidé de mobiliser un total de 360 millions d’euros de projets, qui vont être lancés pour répondre au défi de la reconstruction résiliente et donc de l’adaptation climatique.”
14. Medium, delegates including Pakistan.
15. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Achim Steiner, Adminstrator UNDP: “Today on the 9 January we are meeting; look to the east, in Australia, extraordinary flood events; look to the west in California, extreme weather events, look to Europe, and people are wondering what happened to snow in winter, we are living in profoundly changing times.”
16. Medium, delegates including France and Pakistan.
17. Medium, UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
18. Medium, United States delegate.
19. Medium-wide, delegates and participants, crouching to take photos with mobile phones.

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Arrivals (2 min 06s):

SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE

SHOTLIST 

1. Wide, UN Geneva flag alley
2. Wide, UN Geneva external view of arrivals area.
3. Wide, UN Geneva external view of arrivals area.
4. Medium-wide, tracking, UN Geneva Director-General Tatiana Valovaya and Chef de Cabinet David Chikvaidze greet UN Secretary-General António Guterres as he arrives.
5. Medium, TV camera crews and photographers.
6. Medium, arrival of Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
7. Medium, Pakistan Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif enters UN Geneva.
8. Medium-wide, TV cameras and photographers.
9. Medium, arrival of Swiss Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs Ignazio Cassis.

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