Daily Times, Pakistan
By Atif Khan
ISLAMABAD: Socioeconomic impacts of global
climate change affected the most citizens of underdeveloped countries
in terms of floods and droughts while contributing very nominal
pollution to the global environment over the years, says Human
Development Index (HID) report 2007/ 2008.
The report, launched
by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the citizens of
developing countries, which are the main contributors of pollution,
stayed least affected by the socioeconomic impacts of global climate
change.
The report put the United States on top as for carbon
dioxide emissions. During 2004, the US had 20 per cent of total world
share of carbon dioxide emissions, the main cause of climate change and
global warming, followed by China with 17.3 per cent, Russian
federation 5.3 per cent, India 4.6 per cent and Japan 4.3 per cent.
According
to the report, from 1990 to 2004, carbon dioxide emissions grew by 25
per cent in the US, 109 per cent in China, 97 per cent in India, 54 per
cent in Canada, 93 per cent in Korea, 180 per cent in Thailand, 221 per
cent in Malaysia and 173 per cent United Arab Emirates (UAE). It
attributed this alarming growth in carbon dioxide emissions to the
massive industrialisation, consumption of solid, liquid and gaseous
fossil fuels, from gas flaring and cement production.
In the
report, Desmond Tutu of Cape Town criticised the social injustice. He
said that citizens of rich world were protected from harm while the
poor, the vulnerable and the hungry were exposed to the harsh reality
of climate change in their every day lives. He emphasised that rich
countries support poor countries to fight climate change before the
problems of poor arrive at the doorstep of wealthy.
Talking to
Daily Times, Arif Alauddin, Assistant Resident Representative of Energy
and Environmental Unit of UNDP, said that around a decade ago,
developed countries were donating 0.72 per cent of their GDP to
developing countries to address environmental issues. He, however, said
that the money was very less in view of the severity of the issue.
He
said that developed countries had agreed to double the donations, but
that promised amount was yet not been released even after many years.
He said that cross boundary effects of pollution or gases produced in
one country affected the neighbouring countries by traveling to
neighboring countries via air. He said that relieve was suggested for
poor countries suffering from the pollution generated by rich
neighbouring countries.
Environment Ministry officials claim
that Pakistan’s contribution to world carbon dioxide emissions was very
nominal compared with neighbouring countries. They regretted that the
country’s environment was polluted by the gas emissions of neighbouring
countries.
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