In response to the financial pledges made at the UN conference to support Pakistan’s recovery from the devastating flooding last year, ActionAid has issued the following statement.
Teresa Anderson, Global Lead on Climate Justice at ActionAid, said:
“Last year’s floods in Pakistan, which left a third of the country underwater, is an unmistakable sign that the climate emergency is becoming more brutal and devastating by the month.
“Wealthy industrialized countries have today pledged to provide funds to help those in Pakistan living on the front lines of the climate crisis. But they must also massively step up their own climate action.
“Countries like Pakistan ravaged by climate emergencies need access to funds quickly, and that’s why a central pot of money like the loss and damage fund agreed at COP27 is urgently needed. Alongside this, given that Pakistan is forced to spend more than 40% of its national budget on repaying international debts, it is also time to put debt cancellation on the table as part of the package of responses to the climate crisis.”
ENDS
To contact the ActionAid Press Office media-enquiries@actionaid.org.uk by e-mail or call +44 7586107955.
Notes to editor
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation that works with more than 15 million people living in more than 40 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just and sustainable world in which everyone enjoys the right to a dignified life and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work for social justice and gender equality and poverty eradication.