Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari Proposes Green Marshall Plan
By Elaine Pasquini

 

Washington: During a visit to Washington, DC following his attendance at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari was interviewed Sept. 27 by Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute.

The historic monsoon rains and resultant floods this summer which have affected 33 million Pakistanis “is not a crisis of Pakistan’s making,” Zardari said. But Pakistanis who contribute only 0.8 percent of the global carbon footprint are paying in the form of their lives and their livelihoods “for global warming that they didn’t create.” The US and Europe, “all of the great powers – the great polluters – talk about combating climate change and that there is a $100 billion annual commitment to fight climate change…but when your country is drowning in a 100 km lake and a third of the landmass of your country is underwater, you find out there’s no money.”

“It is truly an apocalyptic scene,” Zardari said. “We are still in the rescue and relief phase of this compounding tragedy, but we see how this is going to get a lot more difficult.”

As it will take months for the massive body of water to recede, the World Health Organization has warned of a health catastrophe with water-borne diseases spreading at epidemic rates. “Our supplies of basics are not able to keep up,” he lamented.

In addition to the more than 1,400 lives lost and 13,000 seriously injured, Zardari also noted at least four million acres of cash crops were destroyed in the floods, essentially wiping out the income of small farmers in agricultural areas. This devastation, in addition to the supply line issues due to the war in Ukraine, have created the threat of massive food insecurity for the country.

But this climate tragedy has created one opportunity, Zardari noted, which is a message to the world that: “It is us today; it could be anyone else tomorrow.” To combat the climate crisis, the foreign minister – at age 34, Pakistan’s youngest ever top diplomat – has proposed a “Green Marshall Plan.” He acknowledged, however, there is not much support for financing the idea, even though the US, he said, has the skills, technology, finances and ability to champion this cause and “to create an impact in the way that the talk is followed up by action.”

His concept of a Green Marshall Plan… “meets the stated position on climate of leaders at the recent G7 summit, including the United States,” Zardari pointed out. “I will keep chipping away at the Green Marshall Plan even though it may not materialize.”

Before these floods, the foreign minister said, Pakistan was working on green energy and solar and wind energy, but now this has become urgent. “Our domestic politics in Pakistan that are incredibly highly polarized…needs to accept the gravity of the situation and rise to the challenge” of actively addressing climate change. “I honestly believe that domestically and internationally now, whatever our political preoccupations are, we have to understand the gravity of the situation,” he added. “We have a climate catastrophe that is spiraling out of control.”

Of the ten most climate-stressed countries in the world: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Sudan, Somalia, Malawi, Niger, Kenya, Haiti and Chad, Pakistan rates number eight. “While these countries have contributed negligibly to the overall carbon footprint, they are going to be the frontline victims,” he warned.

Zardari stressed that to save the planet China and the United States must work together on the global climate crisis. “Everything else can wait, every other conflict…dispute,” he insisted. “We’ll all fight amongst ourselves if there’s a planet left to fight over. Up until then there needs to be an awakening that this is the time for unity; that this is the time for multilateralism. This is not the time for war.”

Responding to Kugelman’s question on Pakistan’s position on the new government in neighboring Afghanistan, Zardari said he is a “proponent and advocate for engagement with the interim government in Afghanistan because…to repeat the mistakes of the past…will become an even bigger mess not just for us but for everyone else. If we do not engage, we will not be able to ensure an expansion of rights for women ... to ensure that the issue of the functioning of terrorist groups is tackled in the way that it needs to be tackled for the international community to be safe and secure.”

Zardari was “incredibly encouraged,” he said, after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken. “Diplomacy is back and that is incredibly heartening. Not only am I pleasantly surprised, but I am also absolutely impressed with the new approach of the United States’ foreign policy to Pakistan. We have for far too long seen each other through the prism of Afghanistan and it was heartening to note…we are broadening the conversation. We are talking about enhancing trade and economic cooperation, energy, agriculture, and health.”

(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)