Oxfam report urges Pakistan to avail G77’s facility to help recover from catastrophic floods

25-10-2022

Finia Hilmes

Pakistan & Human Rights Researcher

Global Human Rights Defence

An Oxfam report titled “The Cost of Delay” released on Monday recommends Pakistan avail the “Loss and Damage Finance Facility” proposed by G77 plus China at the Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in addition to another loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help recover from the catastrophic floods in the country (Ahmed, 2022).

Specifically, the report, prepared by a group of more than 100 researchers, activists and policymakers around the world, stated that if the Loss and Damage Finance Facility is operationalised and adequately resourced it could aid Pakistan to fill the extensive gaps in addressing the loss and damage caused by the floods (Ahmed, 2022).

The facility itself would come in the form of grants to ensure that Pakistan is not further burdened with debt in the aftermath of climate-induced floods (Ahmed, 2022). Furthermore, the facility would provide substantially more finance to help first responders who are usually local organisations in order to respond to the crisis (Ahmed, 2022). In particular, local decision-making processes would determine where funding gaps exist and how the finance should be spent (Ahmed, 2022).

Moreover, the report claims that it would provide a vital signal of international cooperation and solidarity helping to build trust between developed countries and developing countries (Ahmed, 2022).

The Loss and Damage Finance Facility was proposed by the G77 plus China at the COP26 as one way to ensure a comprehensive response to climate impacts in line with the international principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” and mobilised on the basis of the international “polluter pays” principle (Ahmed, 2022). It was introduced as a facility to coordinate, oversee and provide accountability for the support provided ensuring that finance to address loss and damage is new and additional to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) and climate finance (Ahmed, 2022).

The report notes that the catastrophic floodings in Pakistan in 2022 directly affected at least 33 million people and costs were estimated at over $30 billion while the UN humanitarian appeal for floods, however, is set at only $472.3 million and only 19 per cent funded (Ahmed, 2022). Consequently, the report claims that the flood response so far is not considered to be anywhere near enough to aid millions of people who have lost their livelihoods and homes and face hunger, diseases and psychological impacts (Ahmed, 2022).

Finally, the report reveals that the fossil fuel industry made enough profit between 2000 and 2019 to cover the cost of climate-induced economic losses in 55 of the most climate-vulnerable countries almost 60 times over (Ahmed, 2022). In addition, analysis show that in the first half of 2022 six fossil fuel companies combined made enough money to cover the cost of significant extreme weather and climate-related events in developing counties and still have close to $70 billion profit remaining (Ahmed, 2022).

Sources and further reading: 

Ahmed, A. (2022, October 25). Pakistan urged to avail G77’s facility to face flood disaster. DAWN.COM. https://www.dawn.com/news/1716782/pakistan-urged-to-avail-g77s-facility-to-face-flood-disaster.