Pakistan secures over $10bn to help rebuild after floods

The rebuild will focus on improving Pakistan’s climate resilience after extensive flooding in 2022 killed 1,700 and left eight million people displaced.

Countries and leaders from the private and public sector have agreed to give Pakistan $10.5bn (£8.77bn) to help the country recover from catastrophic flooding.

The funding was agreed yesterday at the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan held in Geneva, Switzerland and co-hosted by Pakistan’s prime minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and UN secretary general Antonio Guterres.

It’s estimated that over $16 billion will be required to help restore the country which was bombarded by monsoon rains and melting glaciers.

The largest financial commitment came from the Islamic Development Bank Group which pledged $4.2bn, while the World Bank announced $2bn for Pakistan. More funding came from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Saudi Arabia, the EU, Japan and China.

Sharif said: ‘We need to get 33 million people who are deeply affected by the floods their future back. Their families must stand on their feet and they must come back in life and earn their livelihood.’

The conference focused on how the climate crisis Is already deeply affecting nations in the global south and the need for richer nations to step up to fund climate adaptation and reparations.

‘If there is any doubt about loss and damage, go to Pakistan,’ Guterres told delegates. ‘There is loss. There is damage. The devastation of climate change is real. From floods and droughts to cyclones and torrential rains. And as always, those countries least responsible, are the first to suffer.’

Flooding last June killed 1,700 people and destroyed 2.2 million homes, 13% of healthcare facilities and 4.4 million acres of crops.

It has also driven the spread of the disease, as around four million children are living close to contaminated and stagnant flood waters, while malnutrition is on the rise, with 1.5 million children requiring nutrition interventions.

Guterres said he was ‘deeply frustrated that global leaders are not giving this life-or-death emergency the action and investment it requires’ and targeted the ‘morally bankrupt global financial system’, calling for debt relief and investment in climate resilience.

Photo provided by Ian Packham