{"id":20069558,"date":"2021-03-31T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thethirdpole.net\/?post_type=opinion&p=69558"},"modified":"2024-04-12T17:23:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T17:23:42","slug":"comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit","status":"publish","type":"opinion","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Comment: Why was Pakistan left out of Biden\u2019s climate summit?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The White House has announced the names<\/a> 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\u2019t on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s note<\/p>

As confirmed to The Third Pole by a Pakistan government official on 19 April, Pakistan was belatedly invited to US President Joe Biden\u2019s Leaders Summit on Climate following the publication of this article.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

According to a White House statement<\/a>, the invited leaders represent countries that are top polluters, show strong climate leadership, are \u201cespecially vulnerable\u201d to climate impacts, or are \u201ccharting innovative pathways to a net-zero economy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan climate change vulnerability<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Islamabad has suggested<\/a> that Pakistan\u2019s low emissions rate, coupled with its globally recognised<\/a> tree-planting initiatives<\/a>, qualify it for the summit. (It\u2019s worth noting, however, that Pakistan doesn\u2019t exactly have a stellar record on carbon emissions \u2013 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\u2019s acute climate change vulnerability that most justifies Khan having a seat at the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pakistan\u2019s heavy dependence on agriculture, serious water shortages, densely populated coastal spaces, and susceptibility to floods and drought underscore its fragility. It is ranked<\/a> as one of the world\u2019s 10 most climate-vulnerable<\/a> nations. With a population of 220 million \u2013 the world\u2019s fifth-largest \u2013 there are immense human dimensions to this vulnerability. All other top-10 population countries received invitations to Biden\u2019s summit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why wasn\u2019t Pakistan invited? Some Pakistanis depict it as a deliberate snub<\/a> \u2013 a gesture to convey Pakistan\u2019s 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 \u00ad\u2013 especially as it cooperates closely with Pakistan to kickstart a floundering peace process in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, US governments have applied a narrow lens to Pakistan framed through hard security issues and Afghanistan. This is why, when Washington invites 40 nations to a climate summit, Pakistan won\u2019t make the cut<\/blockquote><\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan\u2019s omission is likely more of an unfortunate oversight, attributable to how Washington orients its relationship with Islamabad. For years, US governments have applied a narrow lens to Pakistan framed through hard security issues and Afghanistan. This is why, when Washington invites 40 nations to a climate summit, Pakistan won\u2019t make the cut. Instead, it\u2019s one of dozens of countries that meet the criteria for attendance but are left out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khan can potentially turn this omission into an opportunity. He can organise his own climate summit to showcase his leadership on the issue. And he can invite other developing countries, thereby highlighting his commitment to advocating on behalf of the Global South (as he did last year<\/a> with debt forgiveness).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Climate change underpins cooperation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also a teachable moment here for Washington. Because of mistrust and different policy priorities<\/a>, the Biden administration may be unwilling to broaden the lens of its relationship with Islamabad in ways that the latter would prefer. But if there\u2019s one logical topic for wider bilateral cooperation, it\u2019s climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration has designated climate change as an essential theme<\/a> of its foreign policy, and it\u2019s surely aware of Pakistan\u2019s deep climate vulnerability. Many senior Biden administration officials, including climate change tsar John Kerry and Biden himself, know Pakistan well. When Kerry was Barack Obama\u2019s secretary of state, he co-chaired a now-defunct US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue that counted renewable energy<\/a> as a core theme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Resurrecting this dialogue is a hard sell in Washington today. A more realistic option is to bring back one of its components, the US-Pakistan Clean Energy Partnership, to sponsor a new climate-themed dialogue composed of academics and the private sector, and focused on information-sharing and investments in clean-energy technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Washington\u2019s chief interest in Pakistan is stability, and climate change is destabilising. The impacts of climate change cause displacement, whether abruptly with natural disasters or more gradually with droughts and other conditions that prompt those with water-dependent livelihoods to migrate to cities. Rural-to-urban migrations impose added burdens on already-overcrowded cities to provide basic services. Their inability to provide these resources raises the risk of radicalisation. Mass movements of vulnerable groups, especially ethnic and religious minorities, can stoke social tensions and violence in their new communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US-Pakistan relationship will need a new anchor, and climate change is an ideal candidate<\/blockquote><\/cite><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, the timing is right. With US forces likely leaving Afghanistan by the end of this year, America\u2019s footprint will soon lighten considerably. For the first time in 20 years, Afghanistan won\u2019t be the main prism through which Washington views its relations with Islamabad. The US-Pakistan relationship will need a new anchor, and climate change is an ideal candidate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A focus on Afghanistan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Afghanistan itself can be a focus of US-Pakistan climate cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington favours more cordial relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They have a disputed border and accuse each other of sheltering terrorists that stage cross-border attacks. Pakistan has leverage over the Taliban because of the safe havens it provides to the group\u2019s leadership, and its close ties to the Taliban have given it a key role in the Afghan peace process. (Islamabad has long denied it provides sanctuary to the Taliban leadership).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washington rightly believes that better ties between Kabul and Islamabad enhance peace prospects in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last October, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation, called<\/a> for a new agreement between Islamabad and Kabul as \u201can adjunct to an internal peace\u201d. He envisions it revolving around border security. But Washington should also encourage the neighbours to explore a transboundary water agreement for the Kabul River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-five million people<\/a> across nine provinces in Afghanistan and two in Pakistan live within the Kabul river basin. In Pakistan, the Kabul River \u2013 a tributary of the Indus, Pakistan\u2019s core surface water source \u2013 provides the drinking, irrigation and hydropower needs of several million people in the city of Peshawar and its environs. With climate change exacerbating Pakistan\u2019s water woes, these supplies will become increasingly precious. Islamabad, however, worries that plans for dam-building<\/a> on the Kabul River by India \u2013 Afghanistan\u2019s friend and Pakistan\u2019s foe \u2013 will impact flow downstream to Pakistan. US facilitation of an Afghanistan-Pakistan water agreement can address a climate-related concern for Pakistan and inject some goodwill into Afghanistan-Pakistan relations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Islamabad relishes a reoriented relationship<\/a> with Washington \u2013 one that mainly revolves around trade and economic cooperation. This may be a misplaced expectation, given America\u2019s reluctance to jettison hard security-related goals. Climate change can be the happy medium: an increasingly urgent shared threat with both economic and security dimensions, and one that neither country \u2013 nor the world \u2013 can afford to ignore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given that Pakistan is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, Washington shouldn\u2019t write it out of the climate change cooperation script<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20054542,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[761],"tags":[50041544,50040720],"country":[20000112,50040700],"class_list":["post-20069558","opinion","type-opinion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","tag-climate-diplomacy","tag-geopolitics","country-pakistan","country-united-states-of-america"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy was Pakistan left out of Biden\u2019s climate summit? | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Given that Pakistan is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, why has it been left out of Biden's climate summit?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comment: Why was Pakistan left out of Biden\u2019s climate summit?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Given that Pakistan is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, why has it been left out of Biden's climate summit?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-12T17:23:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2CD5Y28.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1668\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/\",\"name\":\"Why was Pakistan left out of Biden\u2019s climate summit? | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2CD5Y28.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-31T07:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-12T17:23:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Given that Pakistan is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, why has it been left out of Biden's climate summit?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/climate\/comment-why-was-pakistan-left-out-of-bidens-climate-summit\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2CD5Y28.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/2CD5Y28.jpg\",\"width\":2500,\"height\":1668,\"caption\":\"Vehicles run through floodwater in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, on August 26, 2020. 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