ISLAMABAD — Pakistan announced on Tuesday that recent flooding had claimed approximately 6,000 lives and displaced four million people, as the government warned of escalating climate risks and outlined a coordinated strategy encompassing disaster management, climate financing, and water security.
Senior ministers convened at the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), presenting what they characterized as a unified governmental strategy to address increasingly frequent floods, droughts, and heatwaves.
The briefing occurred as authorities forecast above-normal rainfall in the northern mountainous regions and warned of drought and extreme heat risks across parts of the southern plains.
“Approximately 6,000 people have lost their lives in recent floods, 20,000 have been injured, and four million have been displaced — a population exceeding that of most European nations,” Climate Change Minister Musaddiq Malik stated in a televised address.
“It is paradoxical that others are causing destruction that falls disproportionately on another nation,” he continued, arguing that Pakistan suffers extensively from climate change despite contributing minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Malik noted that the government was replacing a previously fragmented response with a coordinated approach, uniting ministries responsible for climate change, planning, finance, water resources, food security, and information.
He stated that the government had already begun integrating artificial intelligence with satellite imagery, drone surveillance, hydrological data, and weather forecasts to enhance disaster preparedness and response capabilities.
Malik indicated that authorities expected heavier rainfall in Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, heightening the risks of floods and glacial lake outburst floods, whereas reduced rainfall in the southern plains could trigger drought and prolonged heat, necessitating distinct response strategies for each region.
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Pakistan’s improving public finances had enabled the country to fund rescue and relief operations from its own resources, rather than relying solely on emergency international assistance.
He emphasized that climate change, alongside rapid population growth, represents one of Pakistan’s two principal long-term challenges, warning that both threaten the nation’s productive capacity.
Aurangzeb stated that the World Bank’s 10-year Country Partnership Framework would provide approximately $700 million annually for climate-related interventions, adding that the government’s priority was to develop bankable projects capable of utilizing this financing.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal affirmed that the government would continue pursuing a whole-of-government approach to climate resilience and disaster management, while Water Resources Minister Mian Moeen Wattoo emphasized that expanding water storage through projects such as the Diamer-Bhasha, Dasu, and Mohmand dams remains essential for flood regulation and long-term water security.
Pakistan, which contributes less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet ranks among the most climate-vulnerable nations, 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.
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