President Michael D. Higgins has expressed his horror at how the flooding in Pakistan has devastatingly unfolded, insisting that action be taken by developed nations with the largest emissions to halt the global climate emergency.

As it stands, Pakistan’s biggest lake is on the verge of bursting its banks after attempts by authorities to drain it in a controlled way failed, a senior local official warned yesterday. Manchar Lake, in Sindh province, is dangerously full after record monsoons that inundated a third of Pakistan.

Its banks were deliberately breached to protect surrounding areas and more than 100,000 people have been displaced. Teams are racing to rescue thousands still stranded in Pakistan's worst climate-induced disaster in years.

"We see the water is now starting to come down," provincial minister Jam Khan Shoro told the BBC. "If we didn't make the breaches, several towns with big populations would have been destroyed and many more people in danger."

Pakistan floods have:
•Killed 1300+ people
•Displaced 50M people
•Killed 80% of the livestock
•Submerged 33% of the country
•Entirely destroyed 600K homes

If Pakistan were a Western nation we’d see 24/7 coverage

Pakistanis need us. Pls RT & Donate:https://t.co/apl7KD0twx

— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) September 2, 2022

Floods in Pakistan have affected some 33 million people and caused at least 1,343 deaths, Pakistan's National Disaster Management Agency said. President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, has responded with a statement calling for action from countries who bear responsibility.

“As people across the world look on in horror at the continuing humanitarian crisis unfolding following monsoon floods in Pakistan, including the immediate threat of the country’s biggest lake Manchar Lake bursting its banks, it is essential that the international community reflect on the devastating impact which climate change is having on some of the most vulnerable populations of the world," President Higgins wrote today (September 7).

"Whether it is in Pakistan, where it is reported that up to 30% of land is under water following the recent floods, or the Horn of Africa, including Somalia which is facing the very real threat of its third famine in three decades, the impact of climate change on those least responsible for causing it is clear. These countries, which are amongst the lowest producers of emissions in the world, are facing such devastation due to the failure of the developed world to adequately address the global climate emergency.

"Alongside the clear need for humanitarian aid, it is long time that the structural impediments to development and tackling climate change are addressed," President Higgins continued.

"As people’s lives are threatened and homes destroyed in such horrific numbers, and notwithstanding the support being provided by the United Nations and individual countries such as Ireland, through Irish Aid, to help with the immediate impact of the flooding, the representatives of the Government of Pakistan deserve a response from Heads of State and Heads of Government to their request that richer countries who have caused climate change do more to alleviate the suffering of those countries bearing the brunt of that damage.

"In this context, it would not be proper for the statements made by Pakistan’s climate change minister Sherry Rehman and other members of that government to be ignored, including that consideration must be given to reparations being made to nations facing climate-induced disasters," the statement adds.

"As President of Ireland, I stand with climate change minister Sherry Rehman and all those who have issued this request on behalf of the people of Pakistan.”

To donate to Pakistan flood relief causes, visit Global Citizen, Unicef.ie, Save the Children or local organisations.

Pakistan had the hottest city on earth, Jacobabad at 51 degrees celsius in May 2022.

It experienced forest fires, melting glaciers and now has the worst floods in living memory.

Its at the epicentre of climate catastrophe. Cancel the debt, give Pakistan climate compensation now

— Claudia Webbe MP (@ClaudiaWebbe) September 4, 2022