Weak multilateralism and existential threats

The Paris Summit did far less than enough

While these are good messages from the powerful corners of multilateralism they seriously fall short of the needed funds to assist developing countries facing a difficult debt situation, and together with (wrongly) over-board monetary tightening globally making capital very expensive while debt repayments also becoming a very uphill task and in turn countries in the global South in particular left with little fiscal space to effectively spend on climate resilience and managing the effects of climate disaster

In fact a November 2022 Report ‘Finance for climate action: scaling up investment for climate and development produced by The COP26 and COP27 Presidencies together with the UN Climate Change high-level Champions pointed out with regard to needed climate change related expenditures that ‘emerging markets and developing countries other than China will need to spend around $1 trillion per year by 2025 (4 1 percent of gDP compared with 2 2 percent in 2019) and around $2 4 trillion per year by 2030 (6 5 percent of gDP)

Th e world is in the grip of the existential threat of climate change crisis, mainly, and one of its main consequences has been the threat of Pandemicene, where the Covid pandemic– with all the health and financial crises that the humanity especially the developing countries had to go through– unfortunately may not be the last such health crisis of such enormous global magnitude

Yet the needed global response in terms of matching level of multilateralism, to the level of existential threat at hand, has been missing hence, during the last four decades, which is being seen by scientists as the tipping point after which the climate change crisis started to happen all the more quickly and especially for a decade or so when the pace of this crisis increased significantly much more both in terms of annual average global warming temperatures breaking records in a number of years during this time, and during which time the coronavirus epidemic that had been resurfacing time and again, since it first appeared in the early 2000s in the shape of SARS finally became a pandemic in 2019 in turn causing tremendous loss to life and the global economy

A July 29 2022 Reuters published article Rich countries failed to meet their climate funding goal pointed out in this regard Rich nations failed to meet a long-standing pledge to deliver $100 billion to help poorer countries cope with climate change the OeCD said on Friday Back in 2009 developed countries promised that by 2020 they would transfer $100 billion per year to vulnerable states hit by increasingly severe climate-linked impacts and disasters

In the recently held Summit for a New global Financial Pact’ in Paris, the French President reportedly made a commitment that this pledge will be adhered to going forward

A recent Reuters published article

Rich nations pledge to unlock hundreds of billions of dollars for climate fight pointed out the main commitments flowing from this Summit which it also indicated, was intended to improve the global financial system, and assistance for developing countries The article highlighted ‘Multilateral development banks like the World Bank are expected to find $200 billion in extra firepower for low-income economies by taking on more risk a move that may require wealthy nations to inject more cash world leaders said on Friday

Also, the reportedly rechanneling of special drawing rights (SDRs) to the tune of $100 billion from the allocation of SDRs made by International Monetary Fund (IMF) back in August 2021 – when $650 billion were given by IMF globally as enhanced SDR allocation but most of which went to already rich advance countries since the allocation was wrongly made on the usual quote-based criterion – is too little as compared to the calls made of around $3 trillion since the heyday of the pandemic having said that, there was serious ‘resentment’ shown by the South African president at the Summit and in fact rightly so given the severe practice of vaccine apartheid and lack of support of rich advanced countries in terms of waiving of intellectual property rights (IPRs) related to vaccine production during the covid-19 pandemic he emphasized this serious lack of spirit of multilateralism as follows: ‘I played a key role as chair of the African Union during the covid period We felt like we were beggars when it came to vaccine availability When we felt we needed access to vaccines and the Northern hemisphere countries had bought all the vaccines in the world, and they were hogging them And they didn t want to release them at a time when we needed them most And we felt like we were begging, and at times it felt like there would just be droppings from the table that yes we will give you that and then And let me tell you something that that s generated a lot of resentment

We resented that And it got worse when we said we want to manufacture our own vaccines And when we went to the WTO [World Trade Organization], there was a lot of resistance enormous resistance And we kept saying what is more important life or profits by your big pharmaceutical companies And that too I must tell you know generated and deepened that disappointment and resentment on our part because we felt like, life in the Northern hemisphere is much more important than life in the global South While the Summit showed some commitment to provide financial assistance to developing countries to better deal with the climate change crisis yet the needs are far greater in this regard– not to mention lack of any significant commitment shown by advanced countries to cut down on carbon emissions especially in the wake of the fast-closing window to keep the global warming from exceeding the temperature of 1 5⸰C– as pointed out by a recent Financial Times (FT) editorial ‘helping poorer countries fund the climate transition’ as follows ‘In emerging market and developing countries excluding China more than $2tn in investments each year is estimated to be needed to tackle climate change and its impacts by 2030; current investments are running at about $500bn

T h e c u r s e o f m i s s i n g B a l o c h a n d a c a d e m i c p e r f o r m a n c e s ance, class participation, and creative activities

Due to the socio-political uncertainty, parents send their children to Punjab and Islamabad for quality education Over there as one writer wrote in an article in the press on Stereotype Baloch Youth : Baloch on the one hand face cultural and ethnic stereotypes and on the other they become victims of racial and ethnic profiling The issue of Baloch missing persons and the culture of abduction and disappearance of Baloch have created a fearful situation for Baloch youth artists students writers and academia everywhere there is fear person s problem has caused widespread disillusionment and indifference among Baloch pupils Many students spoke of an overall lack of confidence in their capacity to succeed andof optimism about the future Many students are apathetic about their education because of this dismal outlook in the Voice for Baloch 2021 report, and as a result, class participation and attendance have decreased despite having the most critical academic quests and questions in mind human Rights Commission of Pakistan (hRCP) research from 2021 also indicated that the disappearance of people had a major effect on the emotional well-being of Baloch students

Moreover, the same article also highlighted that while it was important to raise more finances, the huge level of global debt also had to be dealt with from the viewpoint of that proportion of it that was due to the carbon footprint of advanced countries over the years It indicated in this regard Raising finance will not be straightforward Total government debt currently equates to about $86tn Around 60 percent of low-income countries are in debt distress, or at high risk of it Many feel they should not be paying for the damage caused by historic emissions from industrialized economies Competition to attract green investment is meanwhile heating up and the private sector is put off by the higher cost of capital in developing countries having said that, insistence of policy in multilateral institutions like IMF and World Bank on primarily being based on Neoliberalism, and within it, austerity, means that the debt burden, both external and domestic has kept on rising due to over-board monetary tightening globally in the wake of the pandemic and aggregate supply shock significantly increasing inflation That needs a serious revisit away from Neoliberalism, as one of the main steps to improve the global financial system, and in increasing both lending capacity of capital markets, and fiscal space of developing countries having said that a recent FT published article Central bank chiefs warn interest rates will keep rising hence it is quite clear that while the Summit in Paris tried to send positive signals in terms of climate finance, and improving global financial architecture to make this happen, yet the same message in terms of an appropriate revisit of neoliberal policies, and the significance of the supply side in inflation determination since the heyday of the pandemic and its lesser role in turn of fiscal stimulus and aggregate demand influence on inflation is not being understood by central banks

Therefore, such a policy revisit is not happening even after months of across-the-board monetary tightening– which has also caused rapid and deep capital flight from developing countries – and the mindset of major central banks indicating that this policy of monetary tightening is likely to continue was highlighted by the same FT published article as The world s top central bank chiefs signalled their readiness to increase interest rates further and keep them high, as they warned tight labour markets are still pushing up wages and prices The heads of the US Federal Reserve the european Central Bank and the Bank of england warned at a conference in Sintra Portugal that more action may be needed to bring inflation down towards targets of about 2 per cent despite some economists predictions that further rate rises could trigger a recession or financial crisis ’

E d i t o r ’ s m a i l

S e n d y o u r l e t t e r s t o : L e t t e r s t o E d i t o r Pakistan Today 4 - S h a a re y F a t i m a J i n n a h L a h o re P a k i s t a n E - m a i l : l e t t e r s @ p a k i s t a n t o d a y c o m p k L e t t e r s s h o u l d b e a d d re s s e d t o Pakistan Today e x c l u s i v e l y

Renewable energy

I T is shocking to note that 13 wind and solar power projects totalling 680MW approved five years ago at the lowest tariff of 3 2 to 3 7 cents per kWh by the National electric Power Regulatory Authority (NePRA) are still awaiting a go-ahead from the bureaucracy while the country is in dire need of cheaper affordable and green renewable energy as quickly as possible

Th e Balochistan province of Pakistan has been facing a serious human rights issue for many years now: the issue of missing persons According to the human Rights Commission of Pakistan (hRCP) as of 2021 there were over 12,000 cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan alone (hRCP, 2021)

This issue has not only caused immense pain and suffering to the families of the missing persons but has also had a significant impact on the academic performance of Baloch students Moreover the issue has also led to a significant number of Baloch students dropping out of school or university

According to a report by the Baloch human Rights Organisation (BhRO) between 2004 and 2019 over 1 500 Baloch students had to drop out of school or university due to the disappearance of a family member (BhRO 2019) In some cases, students have had to take on extra responsibilities, such as caring for younger siblings or working to support their families, which has led to a decline in their academic performance

This province of Pakistan has been facing a serious human rights issue for many years The issue of missing persons came to the surface for the peripheries at the inception of Pakistan But the issue of missing persons became familiar for the rest of Pakistan, especially for the developed regions( Punjab and Islamabad), when some of the Federal and Punjab-centric activists got missing including Matiullah Jan Zainat Shahzadi Raza Khan Asad Tur Imran Khan Naizi and Ali Razvi

According to reports thousands of Baloch people have gone missing over the past decade, with many of them being tortured and killed The issue has not only caused immense pain and suffering to the families of the missing persons but has also had a significant impact on the academic performance of Baloch students however Balochistan province has some universities and colleges and many Baloch students attend these institutions to further their education Due to the ongoing conflict and the missing persons issue, these students face numerous challenges that affect their academic perform-

The psychological anguish that students experience as a result of their ongoing worry about being abducted or missing a family member is one of the most significant barriers they confront Owing to the stress brought on by the missing persons issue many Baloch students have reported feeling uncomfortable depressed harassed and unable to focus on their schoolwork

In addition many Baloch students have been forced to abandon their education because a parent, sibling, or other family member has gone missing As a result of having to help out at home by taking care of younger siblings or earning money to put food on the table some students grades have suffered

The problem has also caused despair and despondency among Baloch students Many people remain concerned that the prolonged turmoil and instability in the region will prevent them from realizing their full potential and achieving what they want in life

A 2019 study by the Balochistan education Foundation (BeF) found that the disappearance of so many people had a devastating effect on the academic success of Baloch students 75 percent of Baloch students in the research said they were nervous or stressed out because of the conflict and the missing persons issue Many Baloch students have been rendered unable to concentrate on their education as a direct result of the emotional distress they have experienced

The study also discovered that the missing

Due to the ongoing violence and the missing persons situation, the study indicated that many students experienced symptoms of sadness, anxiety, and PTSD (hRCP, 2021) Many students have had difficulty managing the stress and trauma brought on by the conflict which has had a negative effect on their mental health and therefore their academic performance

One of the M Phil students from Pakistan s Quaid-i-Azam University shared his experience about the process of choosing a topic for his thesis he claimed that he presented his supervisor with ten different research topics relating to the problems in Baluchistan and the aspirations of Baloch youth; his supervisor rejected all of them

Similarly, one of the master s students at Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad expressed with grief that he felt fear and anxiety while participating in class activities and critical discussion despite being a student of social sciences

In conclusion the Baloch missing persons issue in Balochistan has severely impacted the educational opportunities available to Baloch youths Their academic performance has suffered due to psychological stress, heavier workloads, and general pessimism Taking action to ensure that Baloch students obtain education without fear of harassment abduction or stereotypes is a top priority for the State s institutions This is the only way forward if we want to provide the educated youth of Balochistan with a brighter future

The writer is a freelance columnist

Such an inaction is unpardonable and people in the power sector responsible for this should be taken to task and shown the door Other countries are working day and night to generate all their power from renewable energy, including solar and wind, and a few are nearly achieving it China and India are planning to add 500 000MW of renewable energy by 2030 while Pakistan will be standing at a pathetic 2 300MW In the interest of affordability reliability and security it is time for us to take quick decisions to concentrate on adding renewables at a quick pace RIAZ BHUTTA ISLAMABAD

Workplace stress is a silent killer

A lT h O U g h mental health is a neglected subject, it should be a matter of concern for managers and employers owing to workplace stress in the corporate culture Unfortunately this is not the case and mental health in our corporate sector especially private organisations is considered the least important issue; if an issue at all

According to a recent report public health experts and intellectuals have pointed out that about 75 per cent of Pakistanis, especially youngsters, experience stress, anxiety or depression Any type of stress has adverse consequences on an employee’s mental wellbeing, and there is an increased risk of anxiety, burnout, depression and psychological disorders employees who are stressed are more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviours and workplace stress reduces employees productivity increases absenteeism and number of leaves taken for hospital visits This also ultimately results in increase in medical expenses being incurred by the employers Workplace stress is also linked to high demotivation, leading to a higher turnover rate, which increases administrative costs and may impair the organisation’s reputation in the market

According to the World health Organisation (WhO) workplace stress is caused by poor job design work system workload lack of control overwork poor management unsatisfactory working conditions and lack of support from colleagues and supervisors

Other factors include lack of participation, monotonous or unpleasant tasks, role ambiguity or conflict, lack of recognition of hard work, inequity, poor interpersonal relationships, poor working conditions, poor leadership and communication and conflicting home and work demands

There are two major roles that an organisation must need to perform at the management and employee levels The organisation must formulate a robust policy and for that the WhO has suggested guidelines covering key important aspects to tackle this issue in a smooth manner It is essential to have a clear understanding of the incidence and risk factors associated with workplace stress A policy should be developed with the primary objective of addressing the consent of all stakeholders, and it must adhere to the organisation’s vision and mission For implementing the policies care should be taken to identify such strategies targets to be achieved and timelines that need to be adhered to The impact of workplace stress on mental health can be shocking To overcome this critical challenge organisations must adopt strategies to overcome it at the employee level

There should be flexible communication, group discussions and a supportive work environment Also, peer relationships should be promoted The employees should be encouraged to build relationships with their peers and engage in activities together outside of work There should also be regular counselling sessions for employees who should have paid leave for the purpose and workload should be streamlined