'What happened in Pakistan, won't stay in Pakistan': PM warns of climate catastrophes

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday warned that other countries could be facing climate-induced catastrophes next after one-third of Pakistan was left inundated by flash floods, killing thousands and displacing millions.

“What happened in Pakistan will not stay in Pakistan,” he said in a tweet reiterating his call for urgent action a day after the United Nations issued a revised flash appeal of $816 million as relief assistance for the flood-stricken people of Pakistan.

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PM Shehbaz highlighted that more than 1,600 Pakistanis, including 400 children, had lost their lives due to massive floods and thousands of kilometres of road infrastructure and bridges had been washed away.

“Entire villages have been swallowed up by raging waters. Nature has been truly unforgiving,” he added.

A video compilation shared by the government's official Twitter handle gave an overview of different occasions wherein Shehbaz made impassioned calls at a global level, stressing an urgent response by the world for the disaster-hit Pakistan.

UN revises appeal by five-fold

PM Shehbaz turned to Twitter and expressed his gratitude to the UN chief Antonio Guterres for "articulating" the needs of Pakistan’s flood victims after the UN revised its humanitarian appeal for the country by five-fold.

“Revised UN appeal for $816 million for flood victims underscores [the] need for continued global engagement,” he wrote, adding that as the crises for health and food intensifies, there is a pressing need to "ramp up" action.

“Thank you @antonioguterres for your leadership in articulating [the] needs of people affected by disastrous floods,” he wrote.

On Tuesday, Pakistan and the UN launched the revised flash appeal of $816 million in order to respond to the needs of people affected by unprecedented climate-induced floods.

The revised ‘2022 Pakistan Floods Response Plan’ (FRP) was shared with UN member states and humanitarian organisations in Geneva.

The revised appeal urgently seeks $816 million to respond to the growing lifesaving needs of the people – a jump of $656 million from the initial appeal of $160 million.

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“This increase is a reflection of the rising needs and the unprecedented scale of destruction caused by the current climate-induced disaster which has affected a population of 33 million, cost 1,600 lives and threatens hundreds of thousands more as a second disaster looms within the first one,” said a joint statement issued by Pakistan and the UN.

A month ago, an initial US $160 million flash appeal was made to address immediate needs based on estimates. However, the results of the recent needs assessments, that led to the up-scaling of the flash appeal to $816 million, revealed that much more was needed to save those struggling to survive the aftermath of the floods.