• woodrow wilson center
  • ecsp

New Security Beat

Subscribe:
  • mail-to
  • Who We Are
  • Topics
    • Population
    • Environment
    • Security
    • Health
    • Development
  • Columns
    • China Environment Forum
    • Choke Point
    • Dot-Mom
    • Navigating the Poles
    • New Security Broadcast
    • Reading Radar
  • Multimedia
    • Water Stories (Podcast Series)
    • Backdraft (Podcast Series)
    • Tracking the Energy Titans (Interactive)
  • Films
    • Water, Conflict, and Peacebuilding (Animated Short)
    • Paving the Way (Ethiopia)
    • Broken Landscape (India)
    • Scaling the Mountain (Nepal)
    • Healthy People, Healthy Environment (Tanzania)
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Contact Us

NewSecurityBeat

The blog of the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
  • Michael Kugelman, The Third Pole

    Why was Pakistan Left out of Biden’s Climate Summit?

    April 8, 2021 By Wilson Center Staff
    Karachi,,Pakistan,-,Aug,22:,Residents,Are,Facing,Difficulties,Due

    The article, by Michael Kugelman, originally appeared on The Third Pole.

    Given that Pakistan is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, Washington shouldn’t write it out of the climate change cooperation script

    The White House has announced the names of 40 world leaders invited by US President Joe Biden to participate in a virtual global climate summit on April 22-23. Many Pakistanis are unhappy – and with good reason – that Prime Minister Imran Khan isn’t on the list. 

    According to a White House statement, the invited leaders represent countries that are top polluters, show strong climate leadership, are “especially vulnerable” to climate impacts, or are “charting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy”.

    Islamabad has suggested that Pakistan’s low emissions rate, coupled with its globally recognised tree-planting initiatives, qualify it for the summit. (It’s worth noting, however, that Pakistan doesn’t exactly have a stellar record on carbon emissions – as evidenced by its high deforestation rate, its heavy consumption of dirty fuels, its intense industrial production and its poor air quality.) But it is Pakistan’s acute climate change vulnerability that most justifies Khan having a seat at the table.

    Pakistan’s heavy dependence on agriculture, serious water shortages, densely populated coastal spaces, and susceptibility to floods and drought underscore its fragility. It is ranked as one of the world’s 10 most climate-vulnerable nations. With a population of 220 million – the world’s fifth-largest – there are immense human dimensions to this vulnerability. All other top-10 population countries received invitations to Biden’s summit. 

    So why wasn’t Pakistan invited? Some Pakistanis depict it as a deliberate snub – a gesture to convey Pakistan’s lack of global importance, or a hardball tactic to compel Islamabad to help Washington achieve goals in Afghanistan or on counterterrorism. This is unlikely. US-Pakistan relations are relatively smooth right now, and Washington has little interest in antagonising Islamabad ­– especially as it cooperates closely with Pakistan to kickstart a floundering peace process in Afghanistan.

    Continue Reading on The Third Pole 

    Sources: Bloomberg, Geo News, German Watch, Gulf News, The New York Times, The White House. 

    Photo Credit: Residents facing difficulties due to flooded areas caused by a heavy downpour of monsoon season, on August 22, 2020, in Karachi, Pakistan, courtesy of Asianet-Pakistan, Shutterstock.com. 

    Topics: climate change, environment, foreign policy, international environmental governance, Pakistan
    • The Anxious Middle

      because only the worlds largest polluters were invited to tackle the problem, China, India, the EU and the USA, while Pakistan is not a major polluter, thats why.

Join the Conversation

  • RSS
  • subscribe
  • facebook
  • G+
  • twitter
  • iTunes
  • podomatic
  • youtube
Tweets by NewSecurityBeat

Trending Stories

  • unfccclogo1
  • Pop at COP: Population and Family Planning at the UN Climate Negotiations

Featured Media

Backdraft Podcast

play Backdraft
Podcasts

More »

What You're Saying

  • Rainforest destruction. Gold mining place in Guyana China’s Growing Environmental Footprint in the Caribbean
    ZingaZingaZingazoomzoom: US cleans up. China runs wild on free rein- A lack of international compliance mechanisms to hold...
  • shutterstock_1858965709 Break the Bias: Breaking Barriers to Women’s Global Health Leadership
    Sarah Ngela Ngasi: Nous souhaitons que le partenaire nous apporte son soutien technique et financier.
  • shutterstock_1858965709 Break the Bias: Breaking Barriers to Women’s Global Health Leadership
    Sarah Ngela Ngasi: Nous sommes une organisation féminine dénommée: Actions Communautaires pour le Développement de...

Related Stories

  • Coal,Fire,Electric,Power,Plant,Generate,Electricity,Send,To,PowerThe Biden Administration Confronts the Climate-Carbon Cleavage
  • Pakistan Foreign Minister 235x176Catastrophe and Catalyst: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister on His Nation’s Climate Tragedy
  • woodrow
  • ecsp
  • RSS Feed
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Home
  • Who We Are
  • Publications
  • Events
  • Wilson Center
  • Contact Us
  • Print Friendly Page

© Copyright 2007-2023. Environmental Change and Security Program.

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. All rights reserved.

Developed by Vico Rock Media

Environmental Change and Security Program

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

  • One Woodrow Wilson Plaza
  • 1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
  • Washington, DC 20004-3027

T 202-691-4000