Rich countries and corporations of the global north bear a historic responsibility for the floods that have devastated huge swathes of Pakistan. 

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Hi John,
Rich countries and corporations of the global north bear a historic responsibility for the floods that have devastated huge swathes of Pakistan. It’s time to make polluters pay climate reparations to the global south.

Like me, I’m sure you have been shocked by the scale of the destruction that we have seen in the wake of Pakistan’s most recent floods.

It is estimated that one third of Pakistan was left underwater, that 50 million people have been displaced from their homes, and that $10 billion worth of damage has been caused.

We must make no mistake: these severe floods are the result of an accelerating climate crisis driven by the greenhouse gas emissions of the global north. Pakistan is responsible for less than 0.5% of historic carbon emissions, the UK is responsible for roughly 15 times that.

This week, Pakistan’s climate minister said that rich countries should pay climate compensation, known as ‘loss and damage’, to climate vulnerable countries. This builds on previous proposals from small island states for big historic emitters to pay loss and damage, but these proposals have always been blocked.

It’s time that the global north paid for its destruction of the planet. We are calling on the UK government to help set up a fund for loss and damage at COP27, and to tax corporations to pay for it.

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** 'If you break it, you buy it'
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Although it has a technical term, the principle behind loss and damage is simple.

Bolivia’s former ambassador to the UN, Pablo Solón, argues that because rich countries and corporations in the global north have overwhelmingly contributed to climate change, and ‘broken’ the planet, they must pay compensation.

Pakistan is facing approximately $10 billion in damages as a result of these recent floods, yet as a country it has not even used its fair share of the carbon budget. By contrast, the global north has contributed more than 90% of excess emissions globally (those that exceed a country’s fair share).

How can it be right that communities who have contributed so little to global warming are facing some of its worst effects?

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** International causes require international solidarity
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Loss and damage finance is just one element of the reparations that the global south rightly claims from the global north.

This week, our long time ally Farooq Tariq, general secretary of the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, has written for New Internationalist ([link removed]) highlighting the need for Pakistan’s debt to be cancelled.

“By the end of this year, Pakistan will have had to pay a total of around $38 billion to the IMF, World Bank and other financial institutions. If the West intends on supporting Pakistan through this crisis, it needs to implement a series of measures that tackle the scale of damage inflicted by the global north upon the south since the Industrial Revolution. As a first step, this should include comprehensive debt cancellation, alongside greatly increased climate finance to support communities.”

Reparations isn’t about simply about writing a cheque for the damages done; it is about stopping and repairing the harm that our economic model is doing to people and planet.

Loss and damage isn’t the end of the journey, but it can be a start.
Take action ([link removed])
In solidarity,
Daniel Willis
Climate campaigner, Global Justice Now

PS. Want to take further action on loss and damage? We are working with allies to organise a Loss and Damage Action Day on 22 September ([link removed]) with actions happening around the country. If you’re interested in getting involved, send an email to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .


Read more

1. After the floods, Pakistan needs reparations not charity ([link removed]) , Farooq Tariq, New Internationalist, 5 September 2022

2. Rich nations owe reparations to countries facing climate disaster, says Pakistan minister ([link removed]) , Guardian, 4 September 2022

3. The burning case for climate reparations ([link removed]) , Harpreet Kaur Paul and Tatiana Garavito, 30 June 2022.
** Powerful multinational corporations are continuing to fuel and profit from the climate crisis.
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