The country is responsible for less than one percent of greenhouse gas emissions, but its population is 15 times more likely to die from climate-related impacts, the minister admitted.
Guterres reported on the reconstruction and assistance provided a year after the catastrophic floods, stressing that the Asian country needs and deserves massive support from the international community.
Pakistan is a double victim: of climate chaos and of our outdated and unfair global financial system, which denies middle-income countries access to much-needed resources to invest in adaptation and resilience, he stressed.
Climate change is breaking down the door: from Libya to the Horn of Africa, China, Canada and beyond, the UN chief warned.
Guterres recalled that the multilateral forum released $10 million from the central emergency fund during the floods and another $6.5 million a few weeks later.
The United Nations and the Pakistani government launched the Flood Response Plan, which called for $816 million for immediate relief and protection.
“I can now report that this appeal is now 69 percent funded,” he announced.
Others committed to support in January this year through loans that still do not cover needs, he emphasized.
“Pakistan is still waiting for much of the funding and delays are undermining people’s efforts to rebuild their lives,” he stressed.
The floods killed 1,700 people; Eight million have been displaced and 33 million are considered affected.
According to the UN chief, while much of the water has declined, demand has not.
More than eight million people in the affected areas have no access to clean water and millions more rely on humanitarian assistance.
More than two million homes, 30,000 schools and two thousand health centers have been damaged or destroyed, and reconstruction is only just beginning. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s economy is struggling with food price inflation of nearly 40 percent.
At the same time, floods devastated agriculture, causing prices to rise and incomes to fall.
About eight million more people were pushed into poverty; and millions more were forced to move in search of work.
Pakistan is a litmus test for climate justice, he added.
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