Amnesty calls for global intervention to tackle Pakistan's climate crisis

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Amnesty International has called for a global intervention to tackle Pakistan's lurking "climate crisis", which has wreaked havoc on people’s lives and right to health and livelihoods in recent years.

In its report titled “A Burning Emergency: Extreme Heat and the Right to Health in Pakistan” released on Monday on the occasion of World Environment Day, the rights group urged the need for global action to be taken in light of a series of extreme heat waves wreaking havoc in the South Asian nation.

The report that examines the impacts of extreme heat in Pakistan on people’s lives and right to health and livelihoods, also highlighted the struggles of people living in poverty in some of the hottest cities in the world.

“Pakistan is on the front-line of the climate crisis. Climate injustice is starkly visible, with its people facing disproportionately severe consequences, often life-threatening, despite their small contribution to climate change," the report said.

Pakistan, although, emits less than 1% of greenhouse gasses, it is yet among the top 10 countries, which are at risk of climate change ravages.

It, last year, experienced the worst rains and floods in recent history, which inundated a third of the country, apart from killing over 1,700 people , and washing away hundreds of thousands of houses, bridges, roads, and buildings across the country, which is already grappling with political and economic turmoil.

Over 33 million of the country's approximately 250 million population were affected by the raging floods, causing a staggering loss of around $30 billion in damages to an already weakened infrastructure, according to government estimates.

“On World Environment Day, we hope our report serves as a reminder of our collective responsibility towards some of the most marginalised people exposed to extreme temperatures. They are being forced to live in torrid conditions, as these searing temperatures rise every year while we idly let time go by," Amnesty's Deputy South Asia Director Dinushika Dissanayake said.

Pakistan's southwestern Jacobabad district is one of the hottest places on the planet. In June 2021, its highest recorded temperature reached an unbearable 52 degree Celsius.

- Commitment by wealthier countries

Dissanayake went on to say wealthier countries must demonstrate a decisive commitment to reduce emissions, rapidly phase out fossil fuels and provide funds to support people to adapt and quickly operationalize the Loss and Damage fund established at COP27.

The report also urged Islamabad to develop comprehensive heat action plans "consistent with human rights law and standards, and to ensure that the rights of groups that are especially vulnerable to the health impacts of extreme heat are protected."

People such as those living in poverty and working in the informal sector with precarious work, lower incomes, and fewer opportunities for rest and shade, with limited or no access to support, are severely impacted by the extreme temperatures, the report added.

Moreover, it maintains, multi-layered and intersecting forms of discrimination against women also undermine their ability to cope with heat waves, which has potentially dangerous implications for their health and that of their children.

In Pakistan, according to the report, over 40 million people do not have access to electricity, while others have "erratic and irregular" supplies.

"Wealthier countries need to step up action to reduce emissions and phase out fossil fuels, in accordance with their human rights obligations, and provide the financing and support needed for Pakistan to put in place adequate adaptation measures, provide effective remedies for loss and damage, among other measures needed to protect human rights, " it further said.