Climate-hit Pakistan to cooperate with Switzerland on ways to manage the risks of natural disaster - Yahoo News
Climate-hit Pakistan to cooperate with Switzerland on ways to manage the risks of natural disaster
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday his country looked forward to cooperating with Switzerland on managing the effects of climate change and receiving an advanced weather warning system from the European country.
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis and the head of Pakistan’s disaster management authority, Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Nathia Gali resort, located some 85 kilometers from Islamabad, to cooperate on ways to manage natural disaster risks.
The two countries announced they will “pool resources” to help strengthen Pakistan’s response to such disasters.
The Swiss foreign minister, who was on a three-day visit to Pakistan, said the MoU signing was a “vital step” in helping Pakistan overcome the catastrophic effects of climate change. The situation in Pakistan was a “stark reminder” of the urgent need for international cooperation against climate change beyond borders, he added.
The South Asian nation has been grappling with the effects of climate-induced rains and floods.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, present at the event, said that despite his country's less than one percent contribution to carbon emissions, it was bearing the brunt of global climate disasters.
Pakistan is among the top 10 countries highly vulnerable to climate change. Last summer’s flash floods killed over 1,700 people and left millions homeless, besides incurring $30 billion in losses to the national economy.
The current monsoon rains which began in June have claimed the lives of 55 people including eight children.
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”