Pakistan, victim this summer of floods “devastating”launched Friday, September 23 at the UN a desperate appeal to save the planet, threatened by the climate change caused by the rich countries and which unfairly strikes this poor nation of South Asia, according to its Prime Minister. “Why are my people paying the price for such global warming?” questioned Shehbaz Sharif, while Pakistan represents 0.8% of global CO2 emissions.
At the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, the Pakistani leader hammered home: “Pakistan has never seen such an absolute and devastating illustration of the impact of global warming.” But the Prime Minister, in a stirring speech, warned the international community that this “calamity” climatic due to rains of “monstrous monsoons” was only a prelude to what awaited the rest of the world.
“One thing is very clear: what happened in Pakistan will not remain confined to Pakistan.”
Shehbaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistanat the United Nations General Assembly
According to him, “the very definition of national security today has changed and unless world leaders unite and act now on a minimal agenda, there will be no Earth to fight wars on”.
“We don’t see any action”
Pakistan is not the only country to make such remarks. In an interview with AFP, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, attacked the rich countries: “They talk a lot, they make promises, everything is fine, but we don’t see any action, we don’t see any money.” Faced with growing threats, governments in the South regularly denounce the empty promises of developed countries, in particular the broken commitment to increase their aid to 100 billion dollars a year in 2020 so that the poorest countries can reduce their emissions and prepare for the impacts of global warming.