Dispatch from Islamabad: Pakistan's people are paying the price for climate inaction

The trauma of incommensurate loss

I spoke to a woman who had lost four family members in the floods. Her extended family lived in eight houses along the riverbank. When the floodwaters came in the middle of the night, the women, children, and their homes were taken in an instant.

When I met her at the CARE distribution site, she was in complete shock. She’d come to get help for the rest of her family. CARE provided her with a shelter and emergency latrine kit and everyday essentials including kitchen items, mosquito nets, buckets, toothpaste, toothbrushes, underwear, soap, water purification tablets and menstrual hygiene products. Her family has lost just about everything, and these items will help get them through the incredibly tough period ahead. There’s a very real risk of waterborne diseases, like cholera, so providing hygiene and sanitation items is so important.

I’ve seen hectares and hectares of maize fields submerged in water. Next season’s crops should have already been planted, but that wasn’t possible because of the stagnant water. Balochistan is one of the provinces in Pakistan worst affected by food insecurity and these floods have made matters worse.

The situation is still really tough for pregnant women in flood-affected areas.  Not only do many still not have a proper roof over their heads, but also countless health facilities have been badly damaged.

I heard an incredible tale of bravery that has really stuck with me. A group had taken refuge from the floodwaters on the roof of a house in the middle of the night. While up there, they could hear a little girl screaming in a nearby house. So, they tied a rope around one man’s waist and lowered him into the swirling water. He then made his way over to the girl’s house and pulled her to safety.

In Sindh province, I met a young woman, Saibani, who shared an utterly heartbreaking story. Her brother had taken his pregnant wife, Fozia, by motorbike through the rain to give birth at a health clinic. When they returned home with their newborn, which should have been a time of joy and hope, they were faced with a home that had been destroyed by the floods.

And, as if things couldn’t get worse, a few days later, Fozia was feeling unwell and, tragically, died on the way to the hospital. Saibani, who is herself impacted by the floods, is now helping care for the newborn baby girl, who was named after her mother. She’s trying to breastfeed the little one but doesn’t have enough milk to feed the baby and her son properly.

The impact of climate change in Pakistan is palpable. We had heatwaves earlier in the year and then these floods barreled through the country, yet Pakistan contributes less than 1% of global emissions.

I think it’s only fair that countries with high per-capita emissions support countries like Pakistan. Those who are the least responsible for climate change should not continue to pay the price for inaction.