ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Tuesday that recent floods had killed about 6,000 people and displaced 40 million, as the government warned of mounting climate risks and outlined a coordinated response spanning disaster management, climate financing and water security.
Senior ministers appeared together at the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), where they presented what they described as a unified government approach to tackling increasingly frequent floods, droughts and heatwaves.
The briefing came as authorities forecast above-normal rainfall in the country’s northern mountainous regions and warned of drought and heat risks across parts of the southern plains.
“Six thousand people have died in the last few floods, 20,000 have been injured and 40 million people have been displaced, which is more than the population of most European countries,” Climate Change Minister Musaddiq Malik said in a televised statement.
“It is strange that someone else is causing destruction and destruction is coming to someone else,” he continued, arguing that Pakistan was suffering disproportionately from climate change despite contributing little to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Malik said the government was replacing what had previously been a fragmented response with a coordinated approach bringing together ministries responsible for climate change, planning, finance, water resources, food security and information.
He said the government had already begun integrating artificial intelligence with satellite imagery, drone surveillance, hydrological data and weather forecasts to improve disaster preparedness and response.
Malik said authorities expected heavier rainfall in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, increasing the risk of floods and glacial lake outburst floods, while lower rainfall in the southern plains could bring drought and prolonged heat, requiring separate response strategies for different regions.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Pakistan’s improving public finances had enabled it to fund rescue and relief operations from its own resources rather than relying solely on emergency international assistance.
He said climate change, alongside rapid population growth, represented one of Pakistan’s two principal long-term challenges and warned that both threatened the country’s productive capacity.
Aurangzeb said the World Bank’s 10-year Country Partnership Framework would make about $700 million available annually for climate-related interventions, adding that the government’s priority was to develop bankable projects capable of utilizing the financing.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said the government would continue pursuing a whole-of-government approach to climate resilience and disaster management, while Water Resources Minister Mian Moeen Wattoo said expanding water storage through projects including the Diamer-Bhasha, Dasu and Mohmand dams remained essential for flood regulation and long-term water security.
Pakistan, which contributes less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions but ranks among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, has experienced increasingly frequent floods, heatwaves and glacial melt in recent years.
According to the latest NDMA situation report, at least 109 people have died in rain-related incidents since the current monsoon season began in late June.
