With winter just weeks away, half a million people are living in camps after being displaced by the flood, which destroyed 1.7 million homes. So far, the government’s priority has been to deliver food, tents and cash to the victims. The floods have killed 1,481 people since mid-June and affected 33 million.

“We will do our best to financially help you so that you can rebuild homes” and return to a normal life, prime minister Shahbaz Sharif told several families living in tents and makeshift homes in the town of Suhbatpur in Baluchistan. “Those who lost homes and crops will get compensation from the government,” he said in his televised comments.

Sharif also told dozens of school children, who were studying in a tent with help from the UN children’s agency Unicef in the town of Suhbatpur, that they will get a new school in the next two months.

“Pakistan never witnessed such huge climate-induced devastation,” Sharif told a gathering of lawyers in Islamabad on Wednesday. “It was painful to see inundated villages, towns and cities.”

Sharif said the winter season will start in Pakistan after 15 days, and “then another challenge for the flood victims will be how to survive in the harsh cold” as currently they were living in tents in summer.

Even providing clean drinking water to flood-affected people has become a challenge, he said.

Counting the damage

The floods have destroyed 70% of wheat, cotton and other crops in Pakistan. Initially, Pakistan estimated that the floods caused $10 billion in damages, but now the government says the economic toll is far greater. The United Nations has urged the international community, especially those responsible for climate change, to send more help to Pakistan.

The monsoon rains have swept away entire villages, bridges and roads, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless. At one point, a third of the country’s territory was inundated with water.

Multiple experts have blamed climate change for unprecedented rain-related damages in Pakistan.

Also Wednesday, Pakistan’s minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, told a gathering of lawmakers from the Asia Pacific in the capital, Islamabad that right now the entire world is facing a threat from climate change which, she said, “knows no border”.

She called for reducing emissions to save other countries from the damage that her country is facing now.

Meanwhile, the first planeload of aid from Saudi Arabia arrived in Pakistan overnight.

So far, UN agencies and various countries, including the United States, have sent about 90 planeloads of aid.

On Wednesday, Julien Harneis, UN resident coordinator in Pakistan, told a news conference that member states had committed $150 million in response to an emergency appeal for $160 million.

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Human Rights Watch said in a report based on interviews with more than a dozen academics, scientists and activists that government restrictions amount to a violation of basic human rights and throw into question the Egyptian government’s ability to meet basic climate commitments.

Egypt’s government has engaged in a widespread crackdown on dissent in recent years that has detained thousands, many without trial, according to rights groups. Under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Egypt has also intimidated activists and new laws have practically barred many civil society organizations from operating.

“The world needs more climate activism, not less, and there can be no such effective activism when the government treats civic groups as a threat, not an asset,” said Richard Pearshouse, environment director at Human Rights Watch, in the report. “The UN Framework Convention member states and the Secretariat should press the Egyptian government to make sure environmental groups feel it is safe to engage in and beyond the Cop.”

‘It’s a crunch’: Hunger and unease shape Egypt’s strategy for Cop27

Egypt’s human rights record is coming under scrutiny as the country prepares to host the international conference aimed at slowing climate change through coordinated global action.

In July, several dozen organizations called on Egypt to end its crackdown and allow people to exercise freedom of expression ahead of the summit.

In a joint statement signed by 36 groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, they expressed concern that Egypt will largely keep in place its prohibition on protests during the conference in November.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who is also the president-designate of the next annual Conference of the Parties, told The Associated Press in a May interview that a facility is being developed next to the conference venue where demonstrations can take place. He also said activists would be given access, as is customary, to negotiations in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. He did not elaborate on whether protests would be allowed elsewhere.

An Egyptian government media officer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Monday report from Human Rights Watch. The UN office responsible for overseeing the climate conference, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the right’s group’s call.

Cop27: Activists raise inclusivity concerns as Egypt hikes hotel prices

All of those interviewed for the report spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, the group said, and six declined to speak at all. Those who spoke described harassment by authorities, obstruction, and a “general atmosphere of fear” in the country and said they were wary of voicing opinions that could be seen as critical even during the UN-led conference.

Some described a partial opening in government policy for environmental campaigns in the run-up to the summit, but only for initiatives deemed to be compatible with authorities’ aims, like trash collection. They said speaking up about the country’s use of coal, and mega-infrastructure projects such as the construction of a new administrative capital, are deemed too risky of issues to tackle.

Some expressed hope that this year’s conference could be a chance to try to raise awareness of the free-speech environment that has existed inside Egypt for years.

“There can be no improvement in the environmental situation without improvement in freedom of expression and the overall human rights situation,” one person was quoted as saying in the HRW report.

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The International Energy Agency said a post-pandemic jobs rebound in the sector has been driven by emissions-cutting technologies such as electric vehicle production, building insulation, solar projects and wind farms.

Clean energy, which under IEA’s definition includes nuclear power, is now estimated to account for more than half the 65 million energy sector jobs globally.

However, the Paris-based agency said high energy prices including for fossil fuels have seen an upswing in employment, notably for liquefied natural gas infrastructure. Many countries in Europe are scrambling to find alternatives to Russian gas supplies due to the war in Ukraine.

It also noted that wages in clean energy jobs lag behind those in the fossil fuel industry, where unionization rates are higher and risky work has been compensated with higher pay. The exception is nuclear, due to the highly skilled labor needed, the agency said.

“Countries around the world are responding to the current crisis by seeking to accelerate the growth of homegrown clean energy industries,” said IEA’s executive director, Fatih Birol. “The regions that make this move will see huge growth in jobs.”

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He urged companies, labor representatives and governments to ensure that clean energy projects provide high quality employment and attract a diverse workforce. Women are significantly underrepresented in the energy sector, which as a whole accounts for about 2% of the global workforce, IEA said.

Where possible, fossil fuel workers should be given the option to retrain for clean energy jobs, the agency said. It predicted could up to 14 million new clean energy jobs could be created by 2030, with an additional 16 million workers switching to new roles related to clean energy.

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The Senate passed legislation supporting the target in a vote of 37 to 30, even though several senators who supported it wanted a more ambitious 2030 target.

The center-left Labor Party government officially committed Australia to the 43% target after it came to power for the first time in nine years at May elections. But entrenching it in law has made it more difficult for any future government to reduce the target.

Climate change and energy Minister Chris Bowen said the Senate vote provided certainty to clean energy investors while strengthening transparency and accountability in Australia’s carbon reduction processes.

“The message to investors is that Australia is open for business,” Bowen told Parliament.

Comment: Australia excels at exporting the climate problem. Now it can finally export solutions

The conservative opposition party voted against the bill. The opposition has advocated since 2015 a target of reducing emissions by between 26% and 28%.

Independent senator David Pocock insisted on several amendments touching on transparency and accountability before he supported the bill.

These were soon passed by the House of Representatives, where the government holds a majority. The government holds only 26 of the 76 Senate seats.

Greens party senators supported the 43% ambition although their proposed amendments to increase the target to at least 75% and ban future Australian coal and gas projects were defeated.

‘End to climate wars’

Environment minister Tanya Plibersek tweeted: “The decade of climate wars is over.” It was a reference to how heated and divisive the issue had become.

Analyst and writer Ketan Joshi responded that such celebrations were premature, “while a slew of new coal/gas projects get hand-waved through”.

In November 2021, the Australia Institute counted 72 new coal projects and 44 new gas and oil projects under development. These would result in 1.7 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions a year if fully exploited, it calculated – equivalent to 200 coal power stations.

The previous government pursued a “gas-led recovery” to Covid-19, which included subsidising several new gas basins. Labor has not substantively changed direction on developing fossil fuels for export.

While Plibersek rejected a proposed coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef last month, the Labor government opened up 47,000 square kilometres for offshore oil and gas exploration.

RenewEconomy reported that Labor received half a million dollars from fossil fuel groups in the 2020/21 financial year. The Liberal-National coalition that was in power at the time got almost $675,000.

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Pakistani authorities backed by the military, rescuers and volunteers have been battling the aftermath of the floods that have affected more than 33 million people, or one in seven Pakistanis.

Although rains stopped three days ago and flood waters in some areas were receding, large areas remain underwater. Rescuers were evacuating stranded people to safer ground, including makeshift tent camps have sprung up along highways, inundated villages and towns.

According to initial government estimates, the devastation caused $10 billion in damage to the economy. “It is a preliminary estimate likely to be far greater,” planning minister Ahsan Iqbal told The Associated Press.

His comment came hours before the United Nations and Pakistan were to launch an appeal in Islamabad for help.

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A day earlier, the International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved the release of a much-awaited $1.17 billion for Pakistan.

Pakistan and the IMF originally signed a large bailout accord in 2019. But the release of a $1.17 billion tranche had been on hold since earlier this year, when the IMF expressed concern about Pakistan’s compliance with the deal’s terms under the government of former prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted through a no-confidence vote in the parliament in April.

Last week, the United Nations in a statement said it has allocated $3 million for UN aid agencies and their partners in Pakistan to respond to the floods. This money will be used for health, nutrition, food security, as well as water and sanitation services in flood-affected areas, focusing on the most vulnerable.

On Monday, climate minister Sherry Rehman and meteorologists told the AP that new monsoons were expected in September. Monsoons have hit earlier and more heavily than usual since the start of summer, officials say — most recently with massive rains last week that affected nearly the entire country.

Pakistan is accustomed to monsoon rains and flooding, Rehman said, but not like this.

Several scientists say the record-breaking flooding in Pakistan has all the hallmarks of a catastrophe juiced by climate change.

“This year Pakistan has received the highest rainfall in at least three decades. So far this year the rain is running at more than 780% above average levels,” said Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute and a member of Pakistan’s Climate Change Council. “Extreme weather patterns are turning more frequent in the region and Pakistan is not an exception.”

Pakistan struggles to rebuild after deadly flash floods

Pakistan saw similar flooding and devastation in 2010 that killed nearly 2,000 people. But the government didn’t implement plans to prevent future flooding by preventing construction and homes in flood prone areas and river beds, said Suleri of the country’s Climate Change Council.

Floods and monsoon rains have damaged one million houses and affected 33 million people.

It reflects how poorer countries often pay the price for climate change largely caused by more industrialized nations. Since 1959, Pakistan is responsible for only 0.4% of the world’s historic CO2 emissions. The US is responsible for 21.5%, China for 16.5% and the EU 15%.

According to the National Disaster Management Authority, at least 498,000 people in the country of 220 million are in relief camps after being displaced.

Many more displaced flood victims are believed to be living with relatives, friends or out in the open, without shelter.

Pakistan started receiving international aid this week, and more planes carrying aid from Turkey and the United Arab Emirates landed at an airport near Islamabad on Tuesday, according to a statement released by the military.

It said Chinese planes carrying aid will also arrive in Pakistan later Tuesday.

Pakistan has also deployed at least 6,500 soldiers to help authorities in rescue and relief operations.

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