GENEVA, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged the international community to reaffirm solidarity with Pakistan and to support the country's reconstruction after last summer's devastating floods.
Co-hosted by the government of Pakistan and the UN, the International Conference on Climate Resilient Pakistan took place here on Monday.
"If there is any doubt about climate loss and damage, go to Pakistan," Guterres said. "There is loss. There is damage, and you will see our common future," he told a press conference after delivering a speech at Monday's conference.
In the summer of 2022, a combination of heavy rains and riverine, urban and flash floodings has led to an unprecedented natural disaster in Pakistan.
According to official figures, the floods affected 33 million people, with more than 1,730 lives lost and two million housing units impacted. Thousands of schools and hospitals were also damaged or destroyed.
The poverty rate in the country is estimated to steadily increase, pushing a further 9.1 million people below the poverty line.
"South Asia is one of the world's climate crisis hotspots -- in which people are 15 times more likely to die from climate impacts than elsewhere," Guterres said.
He told reporters that the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit -- universally agreed as the only way to safeguard the planet and the future -- is increasingly unattainable.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told Monday's press conference that his government has prepared a comprehensive framework plan for Resilient Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction (4RF).
"The first part of the 4RF plan reflects the priorities for recovery and reconstruction, bearing in mind the minimum funding requirement of 16.3 billion U.S. dollars, half of which is proposed to be met from domestic resources and the other half from our development partners," the prime minister said. ■
