Climate responsibility and environmental justice have emerged as urgent topics in Pakistan as the country faces severe climate-induced disasters despite contributing a negligible share of global greenhouse gas emissions. The Natural Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) declared the catastrophic floods of 2022 a national emergency after they affected more than 33 million people and forced millions to flee their homes. From mid-June to December 2022, at least 1,208 people died, including 416 children, and 6,082 were injured. Because of the widespread demolition of homes, more than half a million people resorted to living in relief camps across the country. The provinces of Sindh and Balochistan suffered the most damage, with Sindh witnessing the devastation of 23 districts and nearly four-fifths of its total crops destroyed, which accounts for roughly one-third of Pakistan’s total cotton crop. As a quarter of Pakistan’s gross domestic product is based on the agriculture sector, the economy was bound to take a hit in an already suffering country, further aggravating the problem. Inflation touched 27.3% in August 2022 due to shrinking foreign exchange reserves; this extensive damage left Pakistan in an economic crisis with the loss of around ten billion dollars.
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A Catastrophic Scale
Viewing the climate crisis in Pakistan with an introspective lens, the central question is simple: why does a country responsible for less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions continue to bear a disproportionate share of the climate crisis? According to the main findings of the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research’s (EDGAR) greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of all world countries 2025 report; China, the United States, India, Russia and Indonesia were the world’s largest GHG emitters in 2024. Together they account for 51.4% of global population, 62.5% of global gross domestic product, 64.2% of global fossil fuel consumption and 61.8% of global GHG emissions. While climate change is undoubtedly a shared global challenge, the available emissions data makes it difficult to deny the truth that responsibility for the climate crisis is distributed unevenly. The International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) landmark advisory opinion on climate change was delivered last year in July 2025, where the ICJ clarified the legal obligations of all states under international law to guard the climate system and environment from human-driven greenhouse gas emissions.
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It is difficult to predict how the upcoming COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, will influence Pakistan’s diplomatic standing, but the nation’s reliance on international aid for climate resilience remains a critical vulnerability. As major emitters continue to prioritize domestic economic interests over collective climate action, the gap between legal obligations and actual financial support for vulnerable nations like Pakistan will likely widen. This persistent imbalance suggests that while diplomatic pressure may yield incremental policy changes, the structural inequities driving the climate crisis are unlikely to be resolved through negotiation alone.
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The obligations include protecting the climate system and the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. The Court emphasised that states must take appropriate measures to mitigate climate change, regulate activities within their jurisdiction that contribute to environmental harm, cooperate internationally in addressing the crisis, and support efforts aimed at adaptation and resilience. In doing so, the Court reaffirmed that climate change is not merely a political concern but a matter of legal responsibility under international law. While the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement establish obligations on all parties, they recognize that such obligations may differ depending on parties’ economic situations, their historic contribution to anthropogenic GHG emissions and their capabilities to adapt to and mitigate the adverse impacts.
