Can Pakistan Adapt to Climate Disaster?

Months earlier, Pakistan had experienced one of the worst flooding events in its history. The floods had turned much of the lower half of the country into a milky brown swamp, stranding farmers on the rooftops of submerged houses and drowning their half-grown crops.

Three years ago, at the 2022 United Nations climate conference (COP27) held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Sherry Rehman—then the Pakistani minister for climate change—appealed for an emergency fund so that rich countries could compensate poorer countries for climate damage.

Three years ago, at the 2022 United Nations climate conference (COP27) held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Sherry Rehman—then the Pakistani minister for climate change—appealed for an emergency fund so that rich countries could compensate poorer countries for climate damage.

Months earlier, Pakistan had experienced one of the worst flooding events in its history. The floods had turned much of the lower half of the country into a milky brown swamp, stranding farmers on the rooftops of submerged houses and drowning their half-grown crops.

Rehman’s message, echoed by other developing countries, stuck—and the delegates to the COP27 summit agreed to establish a loss and damage fund to help vulnerable nations cope with climate disasters. During a conference in Geneva in January 2023, global funders pledged billions of dollars as an initial and separate step toward Pakistan’s recovery from the floods. The U.N. promoted these pledges as a collective effort to combat climate change, and Pakistan became a poster child for climate justice.

The fund announced at COP27—now officially known as the Fund for