Climate change between floods in Pakistan and drought in China

How can two neighbouring countries be exposed to two opposite disasters and this catastrophic human tragedy?

By: Hanin Abu Alrub

Head of Media Department – National Center for Environmental Justice

We live in the present time, the summit of the climate crisis that hit the planet in a state of contradiction that is no longer understood or logical, neither in its events nor the forms it takes, and consequently the occurrence of the climate crisis because of it, and it is natural to say that they are contradictory events, so how can two neighbouring countries be exposed to two opposite disasters and this catastrophic human tragedy?

How can Pakistan be flooded with water that has wiped out 30% of its capabilities and killed a large proportion of its population, while China is experiencing a wave of drought as it suffers from its worst heat wave in decades, which has strained its energy supplies, and thus different regions are experiencing record heat waves amid severe droughts.

The scorching temperatures disrupted the growth of crops, threatened livestock, lost farmland, and a season that recalled the beginning of the COVID 19 crisis, and how China was isolated from the world.

While people float on rivers of water and mud in Pakistan, some of whom escaped with their families on a boat made of floating wood resulting from destroyed houses, we find on the other hand a rise in temperatures that sometimes reached 39-42 degrees Celsius in eastern Zhejiang Province and Shanghai (Central coast of China), Jianxi (southern China) and Fujian (southeast of China).

Climate Change

The reason for all this is climate change resulting from carbon emissions. During the past two decades of its rapid growth, and the global industrial and commercial sweeping, China has become the largest source of pollution in the world, with carbon dioxide waste that exceeds, according to various sources, 100 million tons. It contributes It accounts for more than 30% of total global carbon emissions compared to 15% in the United States, 5% in Russia, and 3% in Japan.

China is the highest country when it comes to carbon intensity in the world, which means that the increase in the use of energy and polluting fuels, and thus emissions of greenhouse gases, continues without control or, to be more clear, without a real desire for change.

In light of the Paris Climate Agreement, 2015, the number of signatories to the agreement reached 194, and since China, the European Union, the United States, and India are the countries responsible for 87% of greenhouse gas emissions, and China is the largest source of polluting gas emissions in the world (almost a quarter of emissions At the world level), it pledged for the first time to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to a maximum after it had been reluctant to such a pledge due to the necessities of its development.

While the United States chose to withdraw from the agreement.

China is the largest consumer of coal in the world and the most polluting energy source, but in return, it is the largest investor in alternative energy sources and has announced its intention to reduce its carbon emissions by 60-65% by 2030 compared to what it was in 2005.

Saving Planet Earth

And in what may seem like an irrational paradox, but these very different climatic phenomena are affected by climate change, they jump from the hottest and driest atmospheres to become the most humid and rainy, to form together a human climate disaster whose impact is continuous and without limits without radical solutions and a real belief in the need to achieve climate justice and respect International treaties and agreements, and consequently, commitments that would limit human tyranny on this planet and its extent and grant him the right to regain his strength and breathe again. As well as its impact on the most vulnerable and affected human groups

And if we wanted to be more honest and clear, most countries of the world did not heed all the warnings issued by environmental groups and movements, and advocates to protect the planet and the climate, and therefore none of the warnings was considered serious and real issue until it was too late, which raises the alarm bell that calls for it. Scientists and environmental experts periodically

In order to reach environmental and climate justice, we must always look at what the earth needs in order for humans to live, and not the opposite, which is unfortunately considered the law of survival in our time.

Hanin Abu Alrub
Head of Media Department – National Center for Environmental Justice
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