Climate debt unpaid

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The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) recently released a Global Assessment Report highlighting a dramatic surge of over 150% in annual direct disaster costs between the periods 1970-2000 and 2001-2020. A broader assessment of total economic losses, including indirect impacts, now exceeds an astonishing $2.3 trillion.

Despite these alarming numbers, the current trajectory of global climate action and disaster risk reduction foretells an even bleaker picture of the future. Currently, the international community only spends 2% of its development aid on disaster risk reduction, setting the stage for short-term financial reprieve but a worsened crisis in the longer run. Major climate disasters – earthquakes, floods, storms, droughts and heatwaves – will only increase in frequency and intensity, and an escalation is already being observed in the global arena.

The UN report indicates that agriculture is the most vulnerable sector to climate change, owing to extended droughts and heatwaves. This is particularly alarming for Pakistan, often ranked among countries most vulnerable to climate change, with over 40% of its labour force employed in the agricultural sector.

Countries like Pakistan with low- and lower-middle-income economies face disproportionate climate impacts and mounting losses, while wealthy countries contributing most to global warming remain free of liability. The US, the UK, EU and China are reportedly the largest climate polluters but promises for climate reparations have time and again fallen short.

In 2009, developed countries pledged $100 billion annually in climate reparations. After failing to meet the target, they repeated the promise in 2020 and again in 2023, yet it remains unfulfilled. These reparations are not only essential to offset climate disaster losses, but also to address the legacy of colonial plundering that left underdeveloped nations ill-equipped to face global warming.

Without urgent, accountable action from wealthy nations, the global climate crisis risks greater losses and even greater injustice.