Ahmed Kamal (Chairman, Federal Flood Commission): The Planning Commission of Pakistan and other government departments are actively working after the COP27. The rehabilitation of the flood-affected areas is one of the top priorities of the incumbent government. Pakistan has been worst hit by the climate-induced disaster in the form of floods as the infrastructure has been completely damaged in the country. Pakistan is the 7th most vulnerable country in the Climate Risk Index despite the fact that it is the least contributor to the carbon emissions. Pakistan is preparing for the donor conference. The international institutions should be briefed about the devastation caused by floods in the country as well as the ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts by the federal and provincial governments.

Dr. Ejaz Ahmed (Environmentalist): Basically, climate disasters are the punishment by nature for wastage of essential resources by the humankind. We are over exploiting the earth based resources at an alarming speed, which has resulted in disturbance of environmental balance leading to global warming and changing weather patterns. It is also impacting our food security as crops are disturbed. The climate disaster is going to affect everyone. The government has said that it has made a new framework to make the country climate-resilient. Unfortunately, implementation on such initiatives is slow in Pakistan. After 2005 earthquake, some building codes were introduced but they were not followed properly. Pakistan lacks human resources in working on such measures. Second, appropriate technology is not available for such ventures. Pakistan needs to use such disasters as blessing to overcome its shortfalls. For example, the flood water could have been used for agriculture and storage purposes.