Amnesty urges protection of HRs impacted by extreme heat

The Amnesty International (AI) urged Pakistan on Monday to design and implement a national heat action policy that was consistent with international best practices and the global human rights laws and standards.

In a report on the AI’s website, the global rights watchdog stated that climate injustice was starkly visible in Pakistan with the population facing severe consequences despite the country’s disproportionately small contribution to global climate change.

It cited the heavy rains and flooding between June and August last year that led to what the UN termed an unprecedented climate-induced disaster, with deaths, injuries, a loss of livelihoods, and about 7.9 million people becoming internally displaced.

This report examined the impacts of extreme heat in Pakistan on people’s right to health. It said that because of increased exposure to heat and more heatwaves, the Pakistani people were enduring some of the highest temperatures in the world in recent years.

“The federal government and provincial governments, including authorities in Punjab and Sindh, should take all necessary steps to develop comprehensive heat action plans consistent with human rights law and standards,” the AI recommended.

The plans, it added, should ensure measures to keep groups, especially vulnerable to the health impacts of extreme heat, safe. It warned that women in these groups were likely to face multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination.

“The safety of people working outdoors, or who are otherwise exposed to extreme heat at work, should be a key priority area in heat management plans,” it said, adding that people should be adequately protected against loss of income due to heat-related sickness.

The AI also urged the government to develop a ‘National Adaptation Plan’ in a transparent and participatory manner so that all affected groups were able to participate in the process.

“Urgently enhance existing social protection programmes and increase expenditure on them to ensure that everyone who needs it, has access to social protection, and everyone can access their economic and social rights, and an adequate standard of living,” it said.

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The report advised the government to request specific international assistance if it was unable to meet the funding needs. Simultaneously, the AI asked the international creditors to support Pakistan to put in place timely and meaningful measures.

“Pakistan’s creditors should proactively offer debt relief, including debt cancellation, to enable Pakistan to protect people’s economic and social rights, particularly in the context of the economic and climate crisis it faces,” the report said.

“Ensure their human rights responsibilities and Pakistan’s human rights obligations,” the report continued, so that people vulnerable to disproportionate harm due to the economic crisis have access to sufficient social security and support.