As the threat of climate change continues to grow, recent floods in Pakistan have significantly weakened societies’ resilience in dealing with and recovering from such disasters, a new study has revealed.
Lloyd’s Register Foundation, an independent international charity based in London, announced the findings on Tuesday as part of the latest edition of its flagship survey, the World Risk Poll Resilience Index.
The survey also revealed that the number of Pakistanis who have experienced a disaster in the past five years has more than doubled since 2021, increasing from 11% to 27%.
“This increase was mainly driven by severe flooding that affected areas home to around 15% of the country’s population in 2022,” the study said.
The report noted that community and social resilience scores fell sharply in areas most affected by the floods, especially in the southern province of Sindh.
“These scores fell as people reported losing trust in their government, community and infrastructure support. At the national level, happiness levels rose from 60% in 2021 to almost three-quarters of people who said their government doesn’t care about them ‘at all’. [72%] In 2023.”
Meanwhile, the report said Pakistan’s already low levels of individual and household resilience have not improved, with the country ranking among the bottom 10 globally on both resilience scores.
Nancy Hay, director of evidence and insight at the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, called on Pakistani policymakers to prioritise rebuilding and strengthening the resilience of the most affected communities.
She said this would make them better prepared to face natural disasters and other potential causes of disasters amid the growing threat of climate change.
“For Pakistan’s residents, devastating floods have been the main driver of a doubling of disaster experiences since 2021. This has resulted in a reality check in terms of how prepared residents feel they are for such events, with the resilience of communities and societies likely to be particularly adversely affected,” Hay said.
In 2022, southern and southwestern Pakistan were hit by devastating floods brought on by monsoons, unusually heavy rains caused by climate change, killing more than 1,700 people, affecting 33 million people and submerging about a third of Pakistan.
The South Asian country of about 245 million people accounts for less than 1% of global carbon dioxide emissions but is bearing the brunt of climate change.
The country’s weather patterns have changed dramatically in recent years, and it is officially “ranked fifth among the countries most affected by global warming.”
April was recorded as Pakistan’s wettest month since 1961, with more than double the usual monthly rainfall, causing many deaths and destroying property as well as farmland.
Pakistan was hit by a relatively hot heatwave in May and June, with temperatures soaring to more than 52 degrees Celsius in several districts for consecutive days. The heatwaves prompted authorities to temporarily suspend classes for half of Pakistan’s schoolchildren in May to protect students from heatstroke and dehydration.
The United Nations has warned that an estimated 200,000 Pakistanis could be affected by the upcoming monsoon season and flash floods as Pakistani forecasters predict above-normal rainfall.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif reviewed preparedness for the monsoon season in a special meeting on Tuesday and set up a “high-level committee” to deal with any possible emergencies, the prime minister’s office said in a statement.
An official from the National Disaster Management Authority told the meeting that all relevant agencies and the Pakistan Army have been kept on “high alert” in vulnerable areas. He was quoted as saying that “adequate stockpiles” of boats, tents, drainage pumps, medicines and other essentials have been prepared for people in rain-prone areas.
