The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, promised Islamabad that Washington “would continue to stand by Pakistan at this awful moment,” adding that the images coming out of Pakistan were “heartbreaking.” The declarations, published by their offices on Thursday, followed media warnings that Pakistan was facing a flood of “Biblical proportions” and the international community must not let the country fend for itself in dealing with an “unprecedented disaster”.
Munir Akram, Pakistan’s ambassador, emphasised to the world at the UN headquarters in New York that “Pakistan’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is minimal, but it is confronting the harshest effects of the changes produced by those emissions.” During a series of interviews with various media sources, he added, “Today it is Pakistan, tomorrow it may be another country.” “We must all work together to confront this existential threat in a united manner.”
Despite producing less than 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, Pakistan is already suffering from some of the most severe effects. Masood Khan, the US ambassador to Pakistan, made a similar statement in Washington. Citing climate scientists, Ambassador Khan stated that the current floods are more severe than previous ones and are related to global warming.
According to a report by the American news source Axios, “the estimated 1 million homes destroyed in the flooding were occupied by people who had a very low carbon footprint compared to the ordinary American or European person.”
Advisor Assuring Islamabad that the US would continue to offer “important humanitarian assistance like food, fresh water, and shelter,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that Pakistan was “experiencing the horrific repercussions of the floods.” In his second remark on the floods this week, Mr. Blinken stated, “We stand with Pakistan in this difficult moment.
The Biden administration announced $30 million in life-saving humanitarian aid to Pakistan earlier this week, just days after providing approximately $1 million in emergency aid. Pakistan has seen “devastating losses” as a result of this year’s terrible monsoon season, according to Senator Chris Murphy, Chair of the US Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on South Asia.
The climate catastrophe “far too frequently has the greatest impacts on people who are least responsible and have the fewest resources,” he said. Senator Murphy continued, “I’ll keep an eye on this disaster and urge the government to keep sending relief to make sure the people of Pakistan get the help they require.
“The scope and severity of this storm are stunning, with the area and population affected exceeding the severity of the terrible flooding saw in 2010, which cost roughly $10 billion,” said Andrew Freedman, a climate and energy correspondent for Axios.
The paper cautioned that “back-to-back extreme weather events owing to human-caused global warming” could occur and that “Pakistan is Exhibit A” of what is to come, citing recent climate studies.
