Govt to chalk out rehabilitation strategy for 33m flood victims

Islamabad:The dedicated ‘Fund for Loss and Damage’ will address losses and damages in developing countries, such as Pakistan, which are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change.

According to the details, the federal government will chalk out a comprehensive strategy involving the climate change ministry, the ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of finance to pursue its case regarding international financial support to rehabilitate some 33 million people affected recently by the devastating floods in Pakistan.

An official said, “Pakistan and other developing countries are right at their track and it is rightly hoped that the rich countries will now finally come forward and help provide relief to the people all over the world who are affected by climate induced natural disasters.”

He said “The process of extending financial support will certainly take some time but it is encouraging to see that the developing countries led by Pakistan are getting success and moving in the right direction to turn the attention of the developed countries towards their sufferings due to the climate change.”

Pakistan brought the resolve to the negotiations in Sharm el-Sheikh and, as president of the G77 plus China negotiating bloc, succeeded in keeping developing countries united on loss and damage – despite efforts by some rich countries to divide them.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan was struck by devastating monsoon floods earlier this year that left nearly a third of the country under water, affecting more than 30 million people.

Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman said that it had been a long 30-year journey from demand to formation of the loss and damage fund for 134 countries. The official said “It is a huge success that the global climate conference COP27 approved the provision to set up a ‘loss and damage’ fund to help developing countries bear the immediate costs of climate-fuelled events such as storms and floods.”