According to the Global Climate Risk Index’s latest report, Pakistan has ranked 5th on the list of countries most vulnerable to climate change in the past two decades.
A think tank called Germanwatch on Wednesday released the global climate risk annual report for 2020 where it was revealed that Pakistan is the 5th country most likely to be affected by climate change. According to the report, Pakistan lost 9,989 lives, suffered economic losses worth $3.8 billion and witnessed 152 extreme weather events from 1999-2018. This data is what compelled the think tank to put Pakistan at 5th place for climate change vulnerability. The data further indicates that the Pakistani government is not doing enough to deal with the challenges and risks that climate change is posing to the country. The report claims that Pakistan is “recurrently affected by catastrophes [and] continuously rank among the most affected countries both in the long-term index and in the index for the respective year”. The other countries mentioned that are most likely to be affected by climate change include Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Haiti, Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal and Dominica. The report mentions various reasons for Pakistan’s placement on this list, one such reason being Pakistan’s geographical location. According to David Eckstein, one of the co-authors of the report, “the entire region where Pakistan is located is prone to extreme weather events, in particular, heavy rainfalls e.g. during monsoon season, and floodings as a result”. Advisor to the Prime Minister on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam Khan, commented on the recent report saying “Our ranking over the long-term index went up from eight to fifth because the period used amplifies our most climate catastrophic events in 2010/2011 when the super floods hit the country”. He further added, “In terms of economic costs at $3.8 billion, we are number three over a 20-year period. What this means is that our economy is constantly at risk from climate catastrophes and this is not just an environmental challenge but an issue impacting our economy, human health, agriculture and ecosystem.” Keep up to date with more news at ProperGaanda: Pakistani Actress Mehwish Hayat Defends Former President Musharraf