Pakistan, hit by “devastating” floods this summer, on Friday made a desperate appeal to the UN to save the planet threatened by climate change being caused by the rich countries and which its prime minister said is affecting these poor ones Nation of South Asia wrongly strikes .
When United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited this underwater country on September 10, he exclaimed that he had “never seen climatic carnage on this scale”.
Read alsoThe “devastating” floods in Pakistan are just a prelude, warns the prime minister at the United Nations
Speaking in the UN General Assembly grandstand on Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif made it clear that “Pakistan has never seen such an absolute and devastating portrayal of the effects of global warming.”
But the prime minister added a grim prediction in a stirring speech. He warned the international community that this climatic “catastrophe” due to “monstrous monsoon” rains is just a prelude to what awaits the rest of the world. “One thing is very clear: what happened in Pakistan will not be limited to Pakistan,” said Sharif, his voice sometimes filled with anger and his face closed.
“Today’s definition of national security has changed, and unless world leaders come together and act on a minimal agenda now, there will be no Earth to lead them,” the leader said. “Nature will counterattack and humanity is no match,” warned the 71-year-old leader, who has been in power in Islamabad since April.
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Triggered by torrential monsoon rains, exacerbated by global warming, experts said, the floods had blanketed a third of Pakistan – the area of the UK – and killed nearly 1,600 people since June, the latest report. Houses, shops, roads, bridges and agricultural crops were destroyed.
Islamabad has estimated its financial losses at $30 billion and its finance minister, Miftah Ismail, tweeted on Friday that he would seek debt relief from bilateral creditors.
In this country between Afghanistan, Iran, India and China, more than seven million people have been displaced, many living in makeshift camps without protection against mosquitoes and without drinking water or toilets.