Dear members of the campus community,
Many of you might have recently heard of the catastrophic climate-change-induced floods that have been occurring in Pakistan over the Summer. With over 1/3 of the country’s land under water, more than 50 million people have been displaced and thousands have been killed. Sindh province, with the second largest population in Pakistan, has been particularly hard hit. The WHO is warning of significant health threats for displaced persons, especially children. Economic losses exceed $30 billion.
The UFV FSA joins UFV's Global Development Studies program and the South Asian Studies Institute in calling on the university community to learn about the legacies of western imperialism, the global dynamics of climate change, and the complicity of global North countries in fomenting this crisis. Climate justice activists around the world are asking for an acknowledgement of the historic CO2 emissions originating from global North countries, and their disproportionate impacts on countries such as Pakistan. They are also calling for the adoption of a reparations framework for this, and other, climate-change-induced crises.
UFV's communities are barely removed from almost a year of their own devastating climate-change-induced flooding near the valleys and waterways we are fortunate to call home. Surely, we can offer our collective attention and resources to the even larger more catastrophic yet connected events happening in Pakistan. We can also join the global humanitarian response by choosing to donate to the Humanitarian Coalition which comprises Canada’s leading aid organizations. The Government of Canada has pledged to match any donations to these funds towards flood relief in Pakistan. As one global community, we have to act collectively to save the planet, now more than ever.
Please donate to the Humanitarian Coalition. https://donate.humanitariancoalition.ca/ui/EM2232E/donations/start
In solidarity,
Prof. Geetanjali Gill, PhD, Global Development Studies
Prof. Ian Rocksborough-Smith, PhD, History; Local 7 FPSE Human Rights and International Solidarity Representative
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Sources:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/31/flooding-pakistan-britains-imperial-legacy
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/04/pakistan-floods-reparations-climate-disaster
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/action/stop-delays-climate-finance/
https://www.lawfareblog.com/climate-justice-and-loss-and-damage-pakistan-flood-crisis
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4210750
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/09/colonialism-climate-change-pakistan-floods/
Cascade article written by UFV GDS student, Zain Zaidi: https://issuu.com/the-cascade/docs/thezine_iss06_online/54