- Extreme weather events caused $4.2 trillion losses and killed 765,000+ people globally
- Pakistan ranks among most affected countries by climate change, floods, and extreme weather events
The years 2023 and 2024 have shattered global temperature records, international experts analyzed. Last year was the warmest year on record, with a global average of 1.45°C (± 0.12°C) warmer than the 1850–1900 pre-industrial level. This trend has continued into 2024, with each month from June 2023 to June 2024 setting a new average temperature record for the respective month. Global sea surface temperatures set new records for 14 consecutive months (April 2023–May 2024).
The global temperature soared 1.51°C above pre-industrial levels in August 2024. Furthermore, experts also analyzed that from 1993 to 2022, 765,000+ people died globally and direct losses of nearly USD 4.2 trillion (inflation-adjusted) directly resulted from 9,400+ extreme weather events. Floods, storms, heat waves, and drought were the most prominent impacts from short- and long-term perspectives. From 1993 to 2022, storms (35 percent), heat waves (30 percent), and floods (27 percent) caused the most fatalities.
Floods were responsible for half of the people affected. Storms caused, by far, the most significant economic losses (56 percent or USD 2.33 trillion inflation-adjusted), followed by floods (32 percent or USD 1.33 trillion). Moreover, the first Global Stocktake (GST), a comprehensive assessment of progress on the Paris Agreement, was finalised last year at COP28 in Dubai. Its main conclusion is that the world is significantly off-track in meeting the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting long-term warming to 1.5°C. The GST called for a transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, as well as setting important agreed-upon global goals to triple renewable energy capacity and double the rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.
However, it also included provisions that leave room for continued use of some fossil fuels, and it lacked a timeline for phasing out fossil fuels across all sectors. To limit long-term warming to below 2°C, global emissions by 2030 must be 28 percent lower than the levels projected under present policies. Limiting warming to 1.5°C requires a much more ambitious reduction of 42 percent. On the other hand, projections of economic losses because of climate change are also highly alarming. By 2050, climate change could cost the global economy up to USD 38 trillion yearly. This cost is mainly through losses in agriculture, infrastructure, and public health. In absolute and relative terms, the Global South is chiefly affected.
Income losses in countries least responsible for climate change are probable to be 60 percent higher than in higher-income countries. Increasing climate change impacts chiefly result in increased costs for adaptation and addressing loss and damage (L&D). The UN Environment Program (UNEP) Adaptation Gap Report 2024 shows USD 215–387 billion is needed yearly for effective adaptation. Moreover, present estimates of climate finance needs for residual L&D in developing countries were USD 116–435 billion in 2020, rising to USD 290–580 billion in 2030, USD 551–1,016 billion in 2040, and USD 1,132–1,741 billion in 2050. Beyond economic losses, the geopolitical impacts on human security are also becoming more pronounced.
The Climate Risk Index (CRI) for 2025 ranking also shows that Pakistan, Belize, and Italy as the most affected by extreme weather events’ impacts in 2022. As per CRI, Pakistan’s ranking has been mainly because of the massive 2022 floods, which inundated a third of the country, aside from killing over 1,700 people. The devastating floods triggered by record-breaking monsoon rains, and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), also caused 30 billion dollars in losses and affected over 33 million people. The climate change, as per the report, made the intensity of monsoon rainfall raise by 50 percent.
The report registered that before the floods, the South Asian country witnessed severe heat waves from March to May, which resulted in GLOFs in northern Pakistan and massive monsoon rains. In August 2022, Pakistan witnessed 243 percent more rains than usual, making it the wettest August since records began in 1961, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department. Statistics showed that our country is expected to receive about $700 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to tackle climate change.
USAID partners with the Government of Pakistan to combat climate change and facilitate the country’s transition to resilient agriculture and clean energy. USAID support aims to raise the sustainability of the energy and agriculture sectors by boosting resilience, reducing emissions, increasing private investment, and promoting innovative technologies. While responsible for less than 1.0 percent of global emissions, Pakistan ranks as one of the world’s most at-risk countries because of climate change which has presently accelerated the frequency and destructiveness of natural disaster like floods, droughts, and cyclones.
At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), the Government of Pakistan declared that it would aim for a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030—including a 15 percent target reduction using the country’s own resources and a 35 percent target reduction subject to availability of international grant finance. To attain this goal, our government has signaled that it will ban coal imports, enlarge nature-based solutions, transition to 60 percent renewable energy, and aim to have electric vehicles account for 30 percent of the country’s total vehicle fleet. The country’s National Adaptation Plan highlights the need to give local communities better tools to strengthen their climate resilience.