When churning flood waters swept away a group of tourists in Pakistan’s Swat Valley in June, the whole country felt a sense of deja vu.
Just three years ago, extensive floods had swallowed entire hotels and families vacationing in the "Switzerland of Pakistan” and caused more than 1,700 deaths and billions in damage in other districts. Today, extreme rainfall has once again inundated swaths of the country, underscoring its status as among the world’s most climate-vulnerable.
The relentless tragedies highlight how woeful Pakistan’s disaster preparedness remains, as lofty climate funding pledges from advanced, higher-emitting countries and multilateral donor agencies fail to materialize. The shortfall is emblematic of the grim irony facing small, less-developed economies that contribute minimally to climate change but bear the brunt of its impacts.
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