Islamabad, November 29, 2022 (PPI-OT):The Council of the Socialist International (SI) held discussions based on the theme “Halting and Reversing Climate Change” and vowed that the fight against global warming has been central to the work of our International community for many years, and as we witness more and more extreme weather events around the globe it has never been more imperative to reiterate the commitment of the SI to work together to halt and reverse climate change and to renew our call for climate justice. Ms Shazia Marri, Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety (PA and SS) representative Pakistan at the forum and highlighted post flood scenario in the country.
The Socialist International (SI) is a political international worldwide organization of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations. Based upon presentations from Ms. Shazia Marri Federal Minister of Pakistan on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, the Socialist International (SI) expressed solidarity with the people of Pakistan who have been severely affected by the recent catastrophic floods as a result of climate change.
“The catastrophic climate-induced floods in Pakistan resulted in a third of the country drowned under water, affecting 90 districts, with Balochistan and Sindh being the worst-hit provinces, shattering the lives of over 33 million, 1700 deaths and accursed the country economic losses and damages of over US$ 40 billion to agriculture, livestock and infrastructure” the SI declaration added and said that the people of Pakistan, especially the most vulnerable, bore the brunt of the impact, as crops were destroyed, homes washed away and lives lost as a result of the unprecedented floods.
The 3rd declaration of SI said that whilst the stronger commitments hoped for at the COP27 Summit in Sharm-el-Sheikh remain yet unfulfilled, discussions did result in some hopeful agreements and the most promising one is the loss and damage fund that will provide money to the poorest and most vulnerable nations to rebuild after climate disasters, and which finally formally recognizes the wide-reaching inequalities of the climate crisis.
The SI acknowledged with great appreciation the efforts of the coalition Government in Pakistan, for not only making an all-out effort to support the disaster-stricken people, but also sensitizing the international community as well as leading the Group of 77 and China in successfully securing an agreement in the outcome document of COP27 on the establishment of a fund to support vulnerable communities and countries to prepare for and recover from the ‘losses and damages’ caused by climate-induced disasters and slow-onset events.
The Declaration added that although there are clearly huge challenges ahead in terms of implementation and funding of this new development, it does represent a breakthrough in acknowledging the disproportionate effects of climate change and this is a crucial step forward.
4th point of the Declaration said that the COP27 could have achieved far more, and the SI will not cease in calling for stronger commitments in the months to come. Despite claims that the agreement ‘keeps 1.5 alive’, a continued lack of consensus on achieving this is deeply worrying and it appears that a credible pathway to the 1.5C limit is much diminished.
While the text adopted at COP27 reiterates the importance of keeping global temperature rises to 1.5C and acknowledges the vast difference between 2C and 1.5C in terms of the impacts of climate change, much firmer action is needed.
The Socialist International in its 5th Declaration, called for early and full operationalization of a fit-for-purpose Fund for Responding to “Loss and Damage”, established during the recently held United Nations Climate Change Conference COP-27 to support vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters.
In last two points the SI further called on the developed countries to ensure sustained, predictable and sufficient financing for the Fund, and concurred with the United Nations Environment Programme’s Emissions Gap Report 2022.
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