COP27: quest for climate justice
Design: Ibrahim Yahya
Climate justice is a word frequently used among the policy circles, think-tank community, experts and the media in Pakistan these days.
Recent floods have sparked a wider debate on the concept of climate justice and its applicability. This is not for the first time, however, that Pakistan is facing a climatic disaster.
It has suffered massive climatic shocks over the last three decades. The effects of climate change started with the devastating drought of 1999-2003, which impacted Balochistan, parts of Punjab and Sindh. People had to migrate to find decent livelihoods.
Floods are another climate-induced disaster, which recur on a frequent basis. From 2010 onwards, the country has faced a series of fierce floods. The floods of 2010 are estimated to have cost the economy more than $10 billion. Resultantly, food insecurity increased by almost 10% and 20 million people were directly affected.
Likewise, the floods of 2011 impacted 5.3 million people, damaged 1.2 million homes and led to the loss of 361 lives. Furthermore, 1.7 million acres of land was inundated.
The destruction brought about by flooding continued in 2012, 2013 and 2014. This has devastated the already fragile economy.
Pakistan has appealed to the global conscience but has met with little success. Global dignitaries continue to visit the country and express solidarity with the people but no concrete plan has been developed and implemented. The efforts only ended with the addition of greater debt.
However, the floods of 2022 remain unprecedented in the scope of the damage and destruction caused to the economy and the people.
According to latest estimates, they have impacted 33 million people and displaced around 7.9 million. Estimates indicate that 598,000 are living in relief camps.
Furthermore, 2 million homes were damaged, 1.1 million livestock killed and 9.4 million acres of crops inundated.
The World Bank predicts that poverty will increase between 4-7%. In monetary terms, Pakistan has estimated the total cost of the floods to exceed $40 billion.
Like in the past, the dignitaries are expressing their sympathies and have stated that they will seek donor help for the disaster-stricken country. International agencies, the United Nations and great powers are busy in lip service. In this backdrop, Pakistan should realise that calls for climate justice will not materialise and remain an exercise in futility.
For the global community, especially the developed countries, climate justice is only a slogan. They use it to divert attention and earn some brownie points on international platforms.
Since the inception of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), developed countries have sought to divert responsibility for climate change towards poor and less developed countries. For that purpose, they have developed a comprehensive policy and implementation mechanism.
Firstly, developed countries fund civil organisations and think tanks in developing and least developed countries. These institutes engage in shaming their own governments and compel them to take responsibility for their actions.
It is a clever tactic to divert debate from the historical responsibility of the industrialised West that has contributed the most to global warming and carbon emissions. This policy has largely worked and has provided much-needed breathing space to developed countries.
For example, local civil society organisations and think tanks are funded to push for unrealistic mitigation strategies like the pursuance of clean energy.
Although Western countries continue to burn fossil fuels, they push developing and least developed countries to opt for renewable sources of energy. They have accumulated all the benefits of development and have now become preachers of renewable energy without acknowledging the development needs of poor and developing countries.
Crucially, data reveals that developed countries are still leading investment in coal power generation. The United States is producing 23.5% of electricity from coal.
Germany, another proponent of renewable energy, is producing 35.5% of electricity from coal. India, a self-proclaimed leader of solar energy, is producing 77% of electricity from coal and recently, PM Modi has announced plans to open new coalmines.
Developed countries have never fulfilled their commitment to provide financial assistance to the Third World. Rather, they have attempted to create a business opportunity from the reality of climate change.
COP26 witnessed the climax of this strategy with the inauguration of Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero. This is an excellent tactic to shed off their collective, historical responsibility and create business opportunities for their own companies.
Hence, Pakistan needs to come out of the utopia that the world community will assist to make up for the losses of over $40 billion. They will only provide a few million dollars in relief efforts and conduct further studies to justify loans from their financial institutions.
For the future, Pakistan should work to fix institutional shortcomings and
rethink whether delegating the responsibility of mitigating impact of climate change to the provinces is the best idea. In addition, it should develop a business plan to attract green investment under the Climate Compatible Rehabilitation and Development Plan (CCRDP). The country should also use the upcoming COP27 as an opportunity to attract further investment.
In conclusion, Pakistan should concentrate on attracting investment through business plans, not pile up more loans by playing the victim card.
The writer is a political economist and a visiting research fellow at Hebei University, China.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2022.
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