The UN chief on Monday called for massive support to raise the more than $8 billion Pakistan needs to rebuild after last year’s devastating floods, which could well spell the fate that awaits many of countries in the face of climate change.
“No country deserves to suffer what happened to Pakistan”, declared Antonio Guterres, at the opening of an international conference intended to mobilize half of the 16.3 billion dollars (22 billion $CA) deemed necessary to rebuild the country in order, in particular, to make it more resilient to the consequences of climate change.
The UN Secretary General called for “massive investment” and reform of the international financial system to help Pakistan, a subject he had already raised at the COP27 on the climate in Egypt.
Present on Monday, the World Bank invited to “keep expenses within bearable limits”.
“A truly resilient recovery will not be possible without additional fiscal and structural reforms,” said Martin Raiser, Vice President for South Asia at the World Bank, calling for better targeting of social assistance, reduction of expenditures that “weaken public finances” and to adopt “more progressive and broader taxation”.
The devastating floods – which killed more than 1,700 people and affected more than 33 million others – and the global energy crisis have increased the pressure on the Pakistani economy, plunging the country into an extremely difficult financial situation.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told the conference that his country was in a “race against time” to meet immense needs. “We are at a turning point in history,” he warned.
In front of journalists, he urged the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to reduce the pressure. “I’m constantly trying to persuade them to give us a break,” he said. “Economic stability is very important. The day we are all dead, economic stability will be perfect, ”joked the UN chief alongside him, in support.
“Creative” international funding
Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with 216 million people, is responsible for less than one percent of greenhouse gas emissions. But it is one of the most vulnerable to the increasing number of extreme weather events.
The country is also one of those who supported the creation of the “loss and damage” fund at COP27 aimed at supporting southern countries in the face of the consequences of global warming.
“When in doubt about loss and damage, go to Pakistan,” Mr. Guterres slipped on Monday, assuring that the country is “doubly victim of climate chaos and a morally bankrupt global financial system”.
He lamented that the international financial system does not provide enough support to middle-income countries that need to “invest in resilience to natural disasters”, by providing debt relief or new financing, and called for “creative” international funding to help these countries “when they need it most”.
Of the $16.3 billion needed to fund Pakistan’s “Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Plan”, the government estimates it can fund half through its own budget and public-private partnerships, but needs the international community to pay the rest.
Islamabad and the UN explained that Monday’s conference, attended by representatives of some 40 countries, the World Bank and development banks, is much broader than a traditional donors’ conference, as it seeks to establish a long-term international partnership focused on reconstruction, but also aimed at improving Pakistan’s climate resilience.
The Islamic Development Bank Group has pledged to finance $4.2 billion over the next three years.
And a few countries made announcements on Monday, including the United States with an additional $100 million and France with 360 million euros in projects to help with reconstruction and another 10 million for emergency aid, but the final amount should be known at the end of the day.