Between six and nine million Pakistanis are set to be dragged into poverty
as a result of cataclysmic monsoon flooding linked to climate change, the
World Bank said on Thursday.
اضافة اعلان
Pakistan has been lashed by unprecedented monsoon rains this year which
killed 1,700, devastated two million homes, and put a third of the nation
underwater.
Eight million people remain displaced, living in ramshackle tent cities and
scattered camps near the stagnant lakes which swallowed their belongings and
livelihoods.
A World Bank report said Pakistan's poverty rate is expected to rise between
2.5 and 4 percentage points as a direct consequence of the floods.
Loss of jobs, livestock, harvests, houses, and the closure of schools -- as
well as spread of disease and rising food costs -- threaten to put between 5.8
and 9 million in poverty, it said.
"Reversing these negative socio-economic effects is likely to take
considerable time," it added.
In the nation of 220 million some 20 per cent are already living below the
poverty line, according to Asian Development Bank data.
Before the deluges began Pakistan's coffers were already in dire shape, with
a cost-of-living crisis, a nose-diving rupee and dwindling foreign exchange
reserves.
The World Bank said inflation in the country is set to stand at 23 per cent
for the financial year 2023.
Pakistan is responsible for less than one per cent of global greenhouse
gasses, but places highly in rankings of nations vulnerable to extreme weather
caused by climate change.
Credible research says severe weather events are becoming more frequent and
more severe as a result of man-made emissions.
Islamabad has called for richer and more industrialised nations with larger
carbon footprints to contribute to the aid effort as a form of climate justice.
"We have no space to give our economy a stimulus package, which would
create jobs, and provide people with the sustainable incomes they need,"
said climate change minister Sherry Rehman on Tuesday.
"We are still in a long, relentless struggle to save lives."
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