Pakistan Needs $40–50 billion To Battle Climate Change:Ranked 152 Least Prepared Country For Climate Change – UrduPoint

Global warming hard hits the GB and KPK, Punjab facing worst floods on record after 1988

Lahore (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 13th Sep, 2025 – Hira Naveed) Recent floods have turned Pakistan’s one of the Major provinces and a few of the most scenic places into disastrous sanctuaries.

Pakistan has been ranked as the most vulnerable country to climate change in 2022, followed by Belize and Italy, according to data in the Climate Risk Index (CRI) for 2025 in a report released by European think-tank Germanwatch in February 2025.

The reason for Pakistan being on the list was not only due to the rising temprature, Global warming, but also the unprecedented floods in 2022, mainly caused by record-breaking monsoon rainfall, Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), and other factors.

Germanwatch report , which went unnoticed obviously by the Environmental experts and the relevant Government institutions has shown the real vulnerability of Pakistan due to Global warming as the recent floods and the sudden cloudbursts has taken a serious toll as Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province is dealing with the biggest flood in its history.

Extended Monsoon spells and amplified torrential rains and accelerated Glacial shrinkage trigger Floods across Punjab even leaving the metropolitan ,Lahore submerged in many feet underwater.

Cross-border flooding after India released water from swollen rivers and its overflowing dams into Pakistan’s low-lying regions worsens the situation as water levels at River Ravi rose to all time high after 1988.

Punjab is enduring its worst floods on record, with 2 million affected and rivers like Sutlej, Chenab, and Ravi breaching historic water level , leaving the survival of the residents at risk. Small villages across the Punjab province have borne the consequences of this water aggression where half a million people flee their homes to escape flooding.
Flash floods in KP’s Buner, Swat, and Bajaur only claimed over 320 lives in August—a devastating human toll amid landslides and broken rescue efforts, including a helicopter crash.

Global warming has hard hit the Northern regions especially Himalyan region of Gilgit Baltistan and KPK. Snowmelt and Glacial shrinkage trigger flash floods and deadly landslides in chitral and Hunza , sudden cloudburst in Swat and Boner disrict triggered heavy rainfall in a very short time that results in a huge disaster and massive destruction in KPK.

Cloud bursts are the rain bombs that are hitting major parts of the mountainous northern areas including Chitral and Swat , earlier this Summer. Over 800 lives lost nationwide since June, with Punjab and KPK bearing much of the brunt.
Although it has been established as a rampant fact that Pakistan has been facing flash floods for many years consecutively now but the Scale of the recent floods have made such serious consequences that have stirred a wave of alarming bells not only in Pakistan but across the Globe.

Now , the major question arises , why Pakistan is so vulnerable to climate change and Global warming where its scarcity and impact is so overwhelming that its severity cannot be undermined .

Several reasons can be attributed as the trigger factors for the Climate- driven catastrophe of 2025 that has trembled the major parts of the country .

From weak infrastructure and Planning to Land degradation, illegal developments of residential societies on River beds ,deforestation and even Socioeconomic fragility have put Pakistan number 1 on the list of Climate risk Index (CRI).

Rapid, unplanned urbanization—especially in Karachi and Lahore—has blocked drainage systems, clogged nullahs, and allowed settlements in flood-prone zones.
Loss of forest cover (now just ~5% of Pakistan’s land) and poor soil absorption exacerbate flood considerations, particularly in rural and upland areas .
Informal settlements and vulnerable housing in flood-prone areas led to disproportionate casualties, highlighting the human toll beyond the weather itself.
Experts and scientists have also claimed that even moderate rains are causing high death tolls due to the contribution of all the above mentioned factors and unprepardeness of Pakistan for the climate change.
In such vulnerable situation, another setback is a study by the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group which reveals that human-caused climate change made rainfall 10–15% heavier from June 24 to July 23, exacerbating the crisis.

With Pakistan contributing just 0.5% of global carbon emissions yet ranking as the 152nd least-prepared nation for climate impacts. Pakistan’s minimal contribution to global emission contrasts starkly with the outsized climate impact because Pakistan, one of the countries least prepared to deal with the impact of climate change.

Though the Flash floods are caused by accelerated rain spells but the experts have blamed the abnormal human activities for this weather anomaly. Human actions have led to 15 pc heavier rains this year.

Report also suggests that though issue ‘taken seriously’ in Pakistan, but financing is absent. Experts estimate that Pakistan is in urgent need of international adaptation finance and needs $40–50 billion annually to adapt to such extreme weather anomalies .

Even without considering a large scale adaptive transformations , Climate disasters could cost $1.2 trillion by 2050 according to an earlier UN report ,so to say it’s a costly crisis.
At COP29, rich countries, responsible for most emissions, agreed to raise climate finance for developing nations to $300 billion by 2035.

However, there remains a significant gap between the climate finance currently provided by developed countries and the amount needed,
Floods in 2022 killed more than 1,700 people, approximately which depicted vividly how vulnerable Pakistan was to climate change .

We were in a dire of making some serious climate change adaptations but three years , here we are. Monsoon floods and torrential rains are still resulting in shocking loss of life.
Although it’s not like that Climate change is not being taken seriously in Pakistan, but internatio­nal finance and long-term planning is the crucial need of the hour .
A record-breaking 48.5°C in northern Pakistan, followed by deadly torrential rain and accelerated monsoon spell was yet another stark reminder of what the country was enduring at just 1.3°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels.