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Climate Change

UN chief calls for ‘massive’ help as Pakistan puts flood losses at $30 billion

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “massive” international aid for flood-hit Pakistan while visiting the country on Friday, as Islamabad put the cost of flood-related damage at $30 billion.

Record monsoon rains and glacier melt in northern mountains have triggered floods that have swept away houses, roads, railway tracks, bridges, livestock and crops, and killed about 1,400 people.

Huge areas of the country are inundated and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes. The government says the lives of nearly 33 million people have been disrupted. Both the government and Guterres have blamed the flooding on climate change.

“I call on the international community that Pakistan needs massive financial support, as according to initial estimates the losses are around $30 billion”, Guterres told a joint news conference in the capital Islamabad, after meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on his two-day visit, Reuters reported.

Sharif said “Pakistan needs an infinite amount of funding” for its relief effort, adding the country “will remain in trouble as long as it doesn’t receive sufficient international assistance”.

The United Nations has launched an appeal for $160 million in aid to help Pakistan cope with the disaster.

As well as meeting Sharif and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Guterres will tour affected areas during his visit.

Bhutto-Zardari told a news conference after the meeting that Pakistan was waiting for the rescue and relief phase of the crisis to end before calling a donor conference to work on reconstruction.

“When we have a 100km lake that has developed in the middle of Pakistan, tell me how big of a drain can I build to manage this?” he said.

“There is no man-made structure that can evacuate this water.”

In July and August, Pakistan recorded 391 mm of rainfall – nearly 190% more than the 30-year average. The southern province of Sindh has been overwhelmed, with 466% more rain than average.

Guterres said the world needed to understand the impact of climate change on low-income countries.

“It is essential for the international community to realize this, especially the countries who have contributed more to climate change,” he said.

Climate Change

Afghanistan’s air pollution better than last year: officials

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The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) said on Sunday that air pollution in Afghanistan has decreased this year compared to last year.

Zainul Abedin Abed, the agency’s deputy director for policy and expertise, said in a press conference that in the past three months, Kabul authorities took 4,211 vehicles off the road that were releasing excessive emissions.

He also stressed that the world should not politicize the issue of climate change and that developed countries should pay “compensation” to poor countries to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

“Compensation should be taken from developed countries and compensation should be paid to the affected countries. The withdrawal of the Americans or Donald Trump from the Paris Agreement is a violation of human principles. Climate change is a human issue. There must be engagement on this issue. Instead of political considerations, engagement should be opted,” Abed said.

Officials from the National Environmental Protection Agency also said that aid to fight the effects of climate change has not been cut.

“As far as we know, mostly humanitarian aid has been cut off, but projects in the environment and climate change sectors have not been impacted,” said Rohullah Amin, head of climate change department at the National Environmental Protection Agency.

NEPA officials also said that in cooperation with other government agencies, a six-month action plan has been developed to prevent the increase of air pollution.

According to officials, since the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in 2021, the agency has held 3,000 awareness programs to reduce air pollution, in which more than 500,000 people have participated.

Officials at the agency also called on Kabul residents to refrain from using fuel that causes air pollution.

However, a number of Kabul residents complain about the increase in air pollution in recent days and ask the authorities to take more practical measures.

Air pollution in Kabul has always been a source of concern for the residents of the city.

 

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Climate Change

1 dead, thousands evacuated as Australia’s northeast battles floods

“Residents in low-lying areas should collect their evacuation kit and move to a safe place on higher ground. This situation may pose a threat to life and property,” regional emergency management authorities said

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One person died on Sunday in Australia’s north Queensland state in heavy flooding, authorities said, urging thousands of people to move to higher ground because of torrential rains.

Queensland authorities said major flooding was underway in coastal Hinchinbrook Shire, a locality of about 11,000 people about 500 kilometers north of state capital, Brisbane. Several suburbs in the nearby city of Townsville were also affected, authorities said.

North Queensland has large zinc reserves as well as major deposits of silver, lead, copper and iron ore. Townsville is a major processing center for the region’s base metals. In 2019, severe floods in the area disrupted lead and zinc concentrate rail shipments and damaged thousands of properties, Reuters reported.

“Residents in low-lying areas should collect their evacuation kit and move to a safe place on higher ground. This situation may pose a threat to life and property,” regional emergency management authorities said on Sunday morning.

The flooding was triggered by heavy rain from a low-pressure system rich in tropical moisture, Australia’s weather forecaster said on its website, adding that 24-hour rainfall totals were likely up to 30 centimeters.

“The potential for heavy, locally intense rainfall and damaging winds may continue into early next week subject to the strength and position of the trough and low,” it said.

Frequent flooding has hit Australia’s east in recent years including “once in a century” floods that inundated the neighboring Northern Territory in January 2023 during a multiyear La Nina weather event.

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Stanekzai calls on int’l community to help combat climate change effects in Afghanistan

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Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, deputy foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, says the use of bombs and chemical weapons during decades of war in Afghanistan has harmed the country’s environment.

Speaking at a National Climate Change Conference in Kabul on Wednesday, Stanikzai called on the international community and countries involved in Afghanistan’s wars to not politicize environmental issues and to cooperate with Afghanistan.

“Those harmful bombs, devices, chemical weapons, and explosives that were used here unfortunately still have visible effects. In many of our areas, landmines are buried, and their effects are being seen in the second generation today,” said Stanekzai.

He further stated that 80 percent of Afghanistan’s forests have been destroyed due to the wars and stressed that to overcome the current crisis, the country’s water resources must be managed, as Afghanistan is already facing a water shortage.

He said: “You can see that across all of Afghanistan, the water levels are dropping, and Afghanistan is facing a water shortage. If we don’t control our water, and if things continue this way, it will be detrimental to us, and a day will come when we won’t have any water to drink anywhere in Afghanistan.”

Meanwhile, Muti-ul-Haq Khalis, head of the National Environmental Protection Agency, stated at the conference that climate change is a global phenomenon, and addressing it requires joint efforts and cooperation. He called on the world to assist Afghanistan.

Deputy Minister of Economy Abdul Latif Nazari also stated: “Sanctions should be lifted, and restrictions must be removed so that institutions and organizations can cooperate more easily with our agencies, including the National Environmental Protection Agency, without facing

problems in financial transactions.”

In the meantime, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Roza Otunbayeva, said that UNAMA supports efforts to combat the effects of climate change in Afghanistan.

“I promise that UNAMA will support efforts to combat the effects of climate change. UNAMA plans to hold national and international meetings this year on climate change and its impacts in Afghanistan. I also urge UN agencies and NGOs to support these efforts with technical expertise and practical knowledge,” said Otunbayeva.

Currently, Afghanistan is the sixth most vulnerable country in the world due to climate change.

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