Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan risks losing 40% of its farmland due to the country&#39;s worst drought in decades, a new monitoring report warned. According to the latest Afghanistan Seasonal Monitor from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, the country is experiencing below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures that have triggered soil moisture deficits across the nation, The crisis marks the sixth consecutive year of poor weather conditions. Farmers are abandoning fields as irrigated crops struggle to survive and rain-fed wheat production continues to fall. Northern and central Afghanistan face precipitation deficits of up to 100 millimeters through December 2025, according to the monitor. Water shortages are exacerbating the crisis in these regions, which are seeing widespread crop failures, particularly in wheat farming, with soil moisture at critically low levels. In the northeast and central parts of the country, where rain-fed crops are vital, many farmers are unable to plant or maintain crops. Even irrigated areas are struggling with declining groundwater levels. A survey released in November by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that traditional irrigation systems, such as &quot;qanats&quot;, are failing, forcing farmers to dig deeper wells. Climate change has made droughts more frequent and severe, with above-average temperatures intensifying the situation. Snow water volumes, essential for irrigation, are at their lowest levels in years, the monitor said. Many farmers are seeing their income collapse as 40% of farmland remains unused. Even in irrigated areas, people face difficulties due to water scarcity and climate change. More than 75% of rural households depend on agriculture, and many are struggling with food insecurity, according to the report. The report warned that unless conditions improve, food shortages could worsen, causing higher food prices and economic instability. It predicted that if the situation persists, farmland abandonment and declining crop yields will continue, worsening the crisis for the country&#39;s farmers. The Famine Early Warning Systems Network was established by the US Agency for International Development in 1985 and provides early warning and analysis of acute food insecurity worldwide.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s worst drought in decades has led to widespread crop failures, with severe water shortages exacerbating food insecurity and economic instability, a new report warns.

Afghanistan at risk of losing 40% of farmland in worst drought in decades

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan called on the international community on Sunday to ensure quick,&nbsp;grant-based and predictable financing for climate-vulnerable developing countries, Secretary for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Aisha Humera Moriani said. Moriani spoke at a high-level side event titled &quot;Operationalizing Loss and Damage: Financing Resilience and Recovery in Vulnerable Countries,&quot;&nbsp;warning that repeated extreme weather events were deepening debt distress and slowing development progress in nations least responsible for global emissions. She stated that Pakistan was investing heavily in strengthening national climate resilience despite contributing less than 1% to global greenhouse gas emissions. The devastating floods of 2022 and 2025 displaced millions, destroyed large-scale infrastructure, and caused multi-billion-dollar economic losses.&nbsp; &quot;The scale and frequency of such disasters in developing countries underscore the disproportionate climate burden placed on nations that played almost no role in heating the planet,&quot; she said. The Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Ministry and UNICEF organized the event at the Pakistan Pavilion during the UN climate summit.&nbsp; Representatives of the newly created Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, government officials, development partners, and experts attended the event. They discussed practical steps for operationalizing the global Loss and Damage architecture. Panel speakers noted that repeated climate shocks had pushed many vulnerable economies into what they described as a &quot;debt emergency.&quot; Countries are forced to borrow for recovery and reconstruction in the absence of adequate grant-based support. New, additional, and concessional financing is essential if Loss and Damage assistance is to be transformative rather than short-term, they argued. Speakers noted how the children bore the heaviest share of the crisis. Pakistan has nearly half of its population below the age of 18.&nbsp; Moriani warned that recurring disasters were undermining nutrition, health, schooling, and mental wellbeing. &quot;Climate disasters are not only destroying infrastructure, they are also robbing a generation of its right to safety and opportunity,&quot; she said. Speakers stated that the Barbados Implementation Modalities must be prioritized to ensure timely and equitable financing for countries with limited fiscal room. This includes simplified application procedures, faster disbursement mechanisms, and flexible financial windows. They called for mechanisms that could respond effectively to slow-onset threats such as glacial melt, sea level rise, and desertification, in addition to sudden disasters. The Spokesperson for the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, Saleem Shaikh, said a major focus of the discussion was directing support toward the most vulnerable segments, particularly children and young people. He stated how non-economic losses, mainly trauma, cultural disruption, displacement, and the breakdown of community structure, remained under-addressed in global policy frameworks. He said that Pakistan was ready to submit two proposals under the FRLD&#39;s initial funding cycle. The proposals aim at the reconstruction of critical social infrastructure and strengthening resilience in key sectors, including agriculture, community systems, and water resources. He noted how, while Pakistan continued to mobilize domestic resources, the scale of loss far outstripped national capacity. The country&rsquo;s climate ministry called the Loss and Damage finance a matter of national survival rather than an environmental concern. Pakistan asked for adherence to the principles of climate justice and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. &quot;Climate justice demands immediate access. Our people cannot wait,&quot; the ministerial statement said. It called on developed economies and multilateral institutions to move from political commitments to on-ground financial delivery. Moriani stated that Pakistan was committed to working with the UN, international partners, and climate finance bodies to create a fair global framework for climate recovery. The aim is to ensure that vulnerable states receive the resources needed to recover, rebuild, and thrive in a world experiencing accelerating climate impacts. &quot;Climate justice demands immediate access. Our people cannot wait,&quot; she said. The secretary called on international partners to translate political commitments into concrete financial support for the most vulnerable.

Climate & Environment

Pakistan calls on international community to provide rapid, grant-based financing for climate-vulnerable countries, highlighting the disproportionate climate burden and ongoing disasters affecting vulnerable populations.

COP30: Pakistan calls for grant-based climate finance for vulnerable nations

HANOI: Rescuers raced to find more than a dozen people still missing on Saturday after a week of heavy flooding in Vietnam, where authorities said at least 55 people have died.&nbsp;Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October and popular holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding.&nbsp;Whole city blocks were inundated this week in coastal Nha Trang, while deadly landslides struck highland passes around the Da Lat tourist hub.&nbsp;At least 55 people have been killed across six provinces since Sunday, while the search continues for 13 others, the environment ministry said in a statement released on Saturday.&nbsp;Mountainous Dak Lak province was the hardest hit, with more than two dozen fatalities, it said.&nbsp;Rescuers were still plucking people from treetops and the roofs of homes as floodwaters receded there on Friday, state media reported.&nbsp;Multiple highways remained impassable Saturday and 300,000 people were without power, after a blackout that initially affected more than a million, the environment ministry added.&nbsp;Natural disasters have left 279 people dead or missing in Vietnam and caused more than $2 billion in damage between January and October, according to the national statistics office.&nbsp;The Southeast Asian nation is prone to heavy rain between June and September, but scientists have identified a pattern of human-driven climate change making extreme weather more frequent and destructive.

Asia

Relentless rain has lashed south-central Vietnam since late October and popular holiday destinations have been hit by several rounds of flooding.

Vietnam flooding death toll rises to 55

ISLAMABAD: The Punjab government on Thursday set &quot;a new benchmark in environmental protection&quot; as it launched a satellite-based monitoring system to protect forests in Pakistan&#39;s most populous province. A post on the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party&#39;s X account said that, under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz,&nbsp;<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">satellite monitoring of &quot;all forests has begun for the first time.&quot;&nbsp;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-1" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 624px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-1&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1991432742110711859&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=19c9b982687b2f032373d995435efdfa1d18584d&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>It said that the satellite used &quot;state-of-the-art technology to track forest coverage, prevent illegal logging, stop land encroachments, and safeguard wildlife.&quot;&nbsp; &quot;This real-time system will enable immediate action, guide tree plantation efforts, identify areas for afforestation, and even detect fires or estimate damage,&quot; the post on X said. In a separate post, the party said that illegal activity through the satellite monitoring system will be reported immediately, adding that the Environmental Protection Force will take immediate action based on the data.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 897px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=e30%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1991459382614454650&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F&sessionId=19c9b982687b2f032373d995435efdfa1d18584d&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px">&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>It also said that the plantation and wildlife will be supported by satellite data, and remote sensing will make it possible to accurately monitor changes on the ground, eliminating land encroachment, manipulation, and double-dealing through electronic records &quot;The use of modern technology will prove helpful in identifying fires and estimating losses,&quot; the ruling party said. The data will also identify areas suitable for new reforestation efforts. Broader environmental initiativeThe satellite monitoring system is part of the provincial government&#39;s broader Green Program, an initiative aimed at combating climate change and promoting sustainable land use practices. The system will help protect existing forests, prevent land encroachments, and mitigate the impacts of illegal land use changes. It will also assist in assessing damage from natural disasters, such as forest fires. The province&rsquo;s Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb praised the new system, stating that it would significantly improve efforts to protect Punjab&#39;s forests. She said that the technology&#39;s real-time capabilities would be critical for responding to environmental threats, such as illegal deforestation and the ongoing challenges of climate change.

The initiative uses advanced satellite technology to track forest areas, tree coverage, and wildlife across the region in real time.

Pakistan launches satellite monitoring system to protect forests in Punjab

TEHRAN: Water levels at the dam reservoirs supplying Iran&#39;s northeastern city of Mashhad plunged below three percent, media reported Sunday, as the country suffers from severe water shortages.&nbsp;&quot;The water storage in Mashhad&#39;s dams has now fallen to less than three percent,&quot; Hossein Esmaeilian, the chief executive of the water company in Iran&#39;s second largest city by population, told ISNA news agency.&nbsp;He added that &quot;the current situation shows that managing water use is no longer merely a recommendation -- it has become a necessity.&quot;

Middle East

Water levels at the dam reservoirs supplying Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad plunged below three percent, media reported Sunday, as the country suffers from severe water shortages.

Dam reservoirs plunge below 3% in Iran's second city

TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned in a speech broadcast Friday that the capital, Tehran, may need to be evacuated because of water shortages if it does not rain before the end of the year. &ldquo;If it doesn&rsquo;t rain, we&rsquo;ll have to start rationing water in Tehran between late November and early December,&rdquo; Pezeshkian said in a speech aired on state TV.&ldquo;Even if we do ration it and it still doesn&rsquo;t rain by then, we&rsquo;ll run out of water. We&rsquo;ll have to evacuate Tehran.&rdquo; It was not immediately clear how the capital would be evacuated. Iran as a whole has been affected by dwindling rainfall, but the sprawling megacity of more than 10 million people is particularly vulnerable. On Sunday, the director of the regional water company, Behzad Parsa, warned in state media that there were just two weeks&rsquo; worth of water left in the main reservoir serving Tehran. Meanwhile, the Tasnim News Agency reported that the country&rsquo;s precipitation level this year had reached just 152 millimeters, a 40 percent decline compared with the 57-year average. The agency quoted Mohammad Reza Kavianpour, head of the Water Research Institute, as saying that several provinces &ldquo;experienced a 50 to 80 percent decline in precipitation.&rdquo; He added that storage in the capital&rsquo;s dams in the new water year, which began in late September, was around 250 million cubic meters, roughly half of the 490 million cubic meters recorded in the 2023&ndash;24 water year. &ldquo;We must prepare ourselves for a critical situation,&rdquo; he said, according to Tasnim. Water levels in the reservoirs supplying the capital have fallen to their lowest in decades, according to Mohsen Ardakani, director general of the provincial water company covering Tehran. &ldquo;In the last six months, the population has saved 10 percent of its water consumption,&rdquo; Ardakani said on state TV on Wednesday. &ldquo;If this figure reaches 20 percent, we will be able to ensure a stable water situation for the next one to two months when the rains start again,&rdquo; he added.Winter months in Tehran usually bring rainfall and often snow. A sharp decline in rainfall and reduced dam inflow have deepened the crisis, as Iran faces one of its worst droughts in decades. As a conservation measure, water supplies have reportedly been cut off in several neighborhoods of Tehran in recent months, while outages were frequent throughout the summer. In July and August, two public holidays were declared to save water and energy as power cuts became an almost daily occurrence amid a severe heatwave.

File Photo - Tehran via Wkimedia Commons 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned in a speech broadcast Friday that the capital, Tehran, may need to be evacuated because of water shortages if it does not rain before the end of the year.

Iran president warns Tehran may face evacuation due to drought

LILOAN: Typhoon Kalmaegi killed at least 140 people and left another 127 missing after unleashing devastating flooding across the central Philippines, official figures showed Thursday, as the storm headed towards Vietnam. Floodwaters described as unprecedented rushed through Cebu province&#39;s towns and cities this week, sweeping away cars, riverside shanties and even massive shipping containers. The national civil defense office confirmed on Thursday 114 reported deaths, though that tally did not include an additional 28 recorded by Cebu provincial authorities. In Liloan, a town near Cebu City where 35 bodies have been recovered from flooded areas, AFP reporters saw cars still piled atop each other by floodwaters and roofs torn off buildings as residents attempted to dig out of the mud. Christine Aton&#39;s sister Michelle, who has a disability, was among Liloan&#39;s victims, trapped in her bedroom as the floodwaters rose inside their house. &quot;We tried to pry open (her bedroom door) with a kitchen knife and a crowbar but it wouldn&#39;t budge.... Then the refrigerator started to float,&quot; Aton, 29, said. &quot;I opened a window and my father and I swam out. We were crying because we wanted to save my older sister. &quot;But my father told me we couldn&#39;t do anything for her, that all three of us might end up dead.&quot; On neighboring Negros Island, where at least 30 people were killed, Kalmaegi&#39;s driving rain loosened volcanic mudflow that buried homes in Canlaon City, police Lieutenant Stephen Polinar told AFP on Wednesday. &quot;Eruptions of Kanlaon volcano since last year deposited volcanic material on its upper sections. When the rain fell, those deposits rumbled down onto the villages,&quot; he told AFP. The national death tally included six crew members of a military helicopter that crashed while on a typhoon relief mission. The water was ragingOn Wednesday, residents of Cebu&#39;s most-affected areas were busily cleaning up streets that had been rivers less than 24 hours earlier. &quot;Around four or five in the morning, the water was so strong that you couldn&#39;t even step outside,&quot; said Reynaldo Vergara, 53, adding that everything in his small shop in Mandaue had been lost when a nearby river overflowed. &quot;Nothing like this has ever happened. The water was raging.&quot; In nearby Talisay, where an informal settlement along a riverbank was washed away, AFP found 26-year-old Regie Mallorca already at work rebuilding his home. &quot;This will take time because I don&#39;t have the money yet. It will take months,&quot; he said as he mixed cement and sand atop the rubble. The area around Cebu City was deluged with 18.3 centimeters (around seven inches) of rain in the 24 hours before Kalmaegi&#39;s landfall, well over its 13.1 centimeters monthly average, weather specialist Charmagne Varilla told AFP. On Tuesday, provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro called the situation &quot;unprecedented&quot; and &quot;devastating.&quot; Scientists warn that storms are becoming more powerful due to human-driven climate change. Warmer oceans allow typhoons to strengthen rapidly, and a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, meaning heavier rainfall. In total, nearly 800,000 people were moved from the typhoon&#39;s path. Urgent and dangerousKalmaegi was gathering strength on Thursday as it headed towards neighboring Vietnam, where fear was mounting that the typhoon could compound the damage of a week of flooding that has already claimed 47 lives. As of 8 am, the storm boasted windspeeds of 155 kilometers (96 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 190 kph. The typhoon is forecast to make landfall in central Vietnam late Thursday, bringing waves as high as eight meters (26 feet) and powerful storm surges, according to the national weather bureau. Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha urged local authorities to treat Kalmaegi as &quot;urgent and dangerous,&quot; calling it &quot;a very abnormal&quot; storm in a statement Wednesday. Ten typhoons or tropical storms usually affect Vietnam, directly or offshore, in a given year, but Typhoon Kalmaegi is set to be the 13th of 2025. The Philippines has already reached its average of 20 such storms a year with Kalmaegi, weather specialist Varilla told AFP, adding at least &quot;three to five more&quot; storms could be expected by December&#39;s end.

Natural Disaster

The national civil defense office confirms 114 reported deaths, though that tally did not include an additional 28 recorded by Cebu provincial authorities.

Philippine death toll tops 140 as typhoon heads towards Vietnam

SANTIAGO DE CUBA: Hurricane Melissa was finally leaving the Caribbean on Friday after battering communities there for days, leaving a trail of devastation that killed around 50 people. The ferocious storm was expected to become a &quot;powerful post-tropical cyclone&quot; as it moved north, and a brief period of heavy rain and wind gusts was possible in eastern Canada, the US National Hurricane Center said in its latest and final advisory. &quot;After Melissa becomes post-tropical, a brief period of heavy rain and gusty winds is possible over the southern Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland tonight,&quot; the NHC added. Flooding was expected to subside in the Bahamas, although high water could persist in Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and the neighboring Dominican Republic, the agency said. The storm, one of the most powerful ever recorded, was made four times more likely because of human-caused climate change, according to a study by Imperial College London. Melissa smashed into both Jamaica and Cuba with enormous force, and residents were assessing their losses and the long road to recovery. Jamaica&#39;s Information Minister Dana Morris Dixon told a briefing that authorities had &quot;quite credible&quot; reports of a potential five additional deaths, but had not yet been able to confirm. &quot;We&#39;re still at 19 confirmed, but we do expect that will change today,&quot; she said. Kingston&#39;s international airport, which re-opened on Thursday, has already received 13 cargo relief flights, Transportation Minister Daryl Vaz said, and expects at least 20 more to arrive on Friday. &quot;I would say to all of those persons who are still out here waiting and looking up in the sky that you will start to see&quot; and &quot;hear a lot of activity,&quot; Vaz said. &quot;You probably are feeling that you are forgotten. You are not forgotten.&quot; In impoverished Haiti, the country&#39;s civil defense agency said on Thursday that the death toll had risen to 30, with 20 people injured and another 20 missing. It said more than 1,000 homes have been flooded, with some 16,000 people in shelters. In the east of the communist island of Cuba, battling its worst economic crisis in decades, people struggled through inundated streets lined with flooded and collapsed homes. The storm smashed windows, downed power cables and mobile communications, and tore off roofs and tree branches. Cuban authorities said about 735,000 people had been evacuated &mdash; mainly in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba, Holguin, and Guantanamo. &#39;Everything is gone&#39;The United States, meanwhile, has mobilized disaster assistance response teams and urban search and rescue personnel, and the teams were currently on the ground in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, according to a State Department official. Teams were en route to Haiti, too. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also included ideological foe Havana, saying the United States is &quot;prepared to offer immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Cuba affected by the Hurricane.&quot; The UK government announced &pound;2.5 million (about $3.3 million) in emergency funding for the region, and also said it was chartering &quot;limited&quot; flights to help British nationals leave. Hurricane Melissa tied the 1935 record for the most intense storm ever to make landfall when it slammed Jamaica on Tuesday, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In Seaford Town, farmer and businessman Christopher Hacker saw his restaurant and nearby banana plantations flattened. &quot;Everything is gone,&quot; he told AFP. Such mega-storms &quot;are a brutal reminder of the urgent need to step up climate action on all fronts,&quot; said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.

Americas

Ferocious storm expected to became a "powerful post-tropical cyclone" as it moves north, a brief period of heavy rain and wind gusts possible in eastern Canada.

Nearly 50 dead after Hurricane Melissa thrashes Caribbean

At the Wall Street Journal&#39;s Innovator Awards, Billie Eilish delivered a stark challenge to the wealthy elite, asking pointedly, &quot;If you&#39;re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?&quot; Her words came moments after announcing an $11.5 million donation from her tour to support climate justice and food equity, crystallizing a generational divide that goes far beyond celebrity posturing. The contrast between Eilish and Taylor Swift epitomizes this divide. While Eilish designs sustainable tours with plant-based catering and biodegradable confetti, Swift&#39;s private jet logged 170 flights in 2022, generating an estimated 8,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions, roughly 1,200 times the average person&#39;s annual carbon footprint. A single flight from Tokyo to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl emitted 40 tonnes of carbon, with her Eras Tour generating 139 metric tonnes during its US and South American legs. Swift&#39;s representatives argue that she purchases more than twice the number of carbon credits needed to offset her travel. But climate experts repeatedly note that carbon offsets are fundamentally flawed &mdash; often unverifiable, sometimes fraudulent, and incapable of undoing atmospheric damage. The only real solution, they insist, is to simply fly less. This isn&#39;t merely a celebrity spat, but a broader generational reckoning about wealth, responsibility, and planetary survival. Eilish, born in 2001, represents a generation that experiences climate anxiety as background noise. This cohort watched Greta Thunberg sail across the Atlantic rather than fly, viewing sustainability not as a brand, but as an existential necessity. Swift, born in 1989, comes from an era when private jets were status symbols, not sources of shame. The underlying issue cuts deeper than individual carbon footprints. It&#39;s about a system that allows extreme wealth accumulation while the planet suffers. Eilish&#39;s generation increasingly sees through the performative gestures of wealthy individuals &mdash; understanding that no one truly needs a billion dollars and that such wealth could solve massive global problems rather than fund private jet junkets. Celebrity behavior shapes cultural norms, and when Swift flies private for convenience, she normalizes a fundamentally unsustainable lifestyle. When Eilish questions the very existence of billionaires, she challenges the premise that extreme wealth accumulation is morally neutral. The climate crisis demands more than individual action; it requires a complete reimagining of societal values. Carbon offsetting has become the refuge of wealthy polluters, a corporate indulgence that allows the rich to buy the right to pollute while the poor suffer the consequences of a warming planet they did little to create. Eilish&#39;s approach differs dramatically: Her tour sustainability measures are systematic, not performative, acknowledging that having a massive platform comes with a responsibility to minimize harm. The uncomfortable truth remains: The planet is burning. Some are trying to put out the fire, while others are adding fuel and calling it innovation. When Eilish asks why billionaires exist, she&#39;s articulating what her generation increasingly takes for granted: Extreme wealth is indefensible when the planet is in crisis. Swift could choose differently. She could tour sustainably, fly commercial, or simply fly less. She could donate a fraction of her estimated $1.6 billion net worth to climate causes. Instead, she buys carbon credits and sends cease-and-desist letters to students tracking her flights. Meanwhile, Eilish keeps asking the questions no one in that room of billionaires wants to answer. And the planet keeps burning.

Blogs

Billie Eilish challenges billionaire wealth and celebrity hypocrisy on climate action, contrasting her sustainable, charitable approach with Taylor Swift’s heavy private jet emissions and questionable carbon offsets.

Two generations, one planet: Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift's divergent climate paths

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organization (WHO) and global partners released the 2025 Lancet Countdown report, urging that protecting human health must drive climate action amid rising heat deaths and fossil fuel dependence worldwide.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The report warns that continued reliance on fossil fuels and inadequate adaptation to rising temperatures are taking a devastating toll on lives, economies, and health systems worldwide.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;This report, produced with WHO as a strategic partner, makes clear that climate inaction is killing people now in all countries. However, climate action is also the greatest health opportunity of our time. Cleaner air, healthier diets, and resilient health systems can save millions of lives now and protect current and future generations.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The findings show 12 of 20 key indicators tracking health threats have reached record levels. Climate inaction is costing lives, straining health systems, and undermining economies.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;The climate crisis is a health crisis. Every fraction of a degree of warming costs lives and livelihoods,&rdquo; said Dr Jeremy Farrar, Assistant Director-General for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Care at the World Health Organization.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The report identifies Asia among the regions with the most significant rise in heatwave exposure due to climate change, alongside Africa and Small Island Developing States.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It adds that the climate suitability for dengue transmission &mdash; spread by Aedes mosquitoes &mdash; has risen by 48.5% since the 1950s, contributing to millions of new cases globally.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Heat exposure threat&nbsp; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The report highlights a 23% rise in heat-related deaths since the 1990s, with an average of 546,000 people dying annually due to heat exposure. Infants and older adults each experienced over 20 heatwave days per person in 2024, four times as many as two decades ago. Droughts and heatwaves have pushed an additional 124 million people into food insecurity.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Economic losses are also mounting. Heat exposure resulted in 640 billion potential labor hours lost in 2024, with productivity losses estimated at $1.09 trillion.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Governments spent $956 billion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2023 &mdash; more than triple the annual amount pledged to support climate-vulnerable countries. In 15 nations, fossil fuel subsidies exceeded entire national health budgets.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite these challenges, the report highlights progress. Between 2010 and 2022, reduced coal-derived air pollution prevented 160,000 premature deaths annually.&nbsp;Global surge in droughtThe Lancet Countdown warns that the &ldquo;percentage of the global land area affected by at least 1 month of extreme drought reached a record-breaking 60&middot;7% in 2024, 299% above the average&rdquo; since the 1950s.&nbsp; Researchers said the rise in global droughts reflects how higher temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns are disrupting water and food systems. &ldquo;Droughts threaten food productivity and water security, and heighten the risk of infectious diseases,&rdquo; the report noted. It added that prolonged dry periods are also worsening air quality by increasing dust exposure and wildfire risks, while disrupting power generation and river transport in several regions.<figure class="fr-media"><img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/c35cf4c5-b5b4-4451-90b2-843ef423bdfe-Drought in Pakistan .png" alt="Annual number of months of extreme drought on average in 1951–1960 (A) and 2024 (B) (Lancet Countdown report 2025)" class="fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 680px;"><figcaption class="caption-cover-image text-sm text-gray-600 italic" style="line-height: 2;">Annual number of months of extreme drought on average in 1951&ndash;1960 (A) and 2024 (B) (Lancet Countdown report 2025)</figcaption></figure> <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Global energy&nbsp; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Renewable energy generation reached a record 12% of global electricity, creating 16 million jobs. Two-thirds of medical students received climate and health education in 2024.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;We already have the solutions at hand to avoid a climate catastrophe,&rdquo; said Dr Marina Romanello, Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown at University College London. &ldquo;Rapidly phasing out fossil fuels in favor of clean renewable energy and efficient energy use remains the most powerful lever to slow climate change and protect lives.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 700; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&lsquo;Leading the way&rsquo; <span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;While some governments have slowed their climate commitments, the report shows that cities, communities, and the health sector are leading the way,&rdquo; WHO official,&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap" id="isPasted">Dr Jeremy Farrar&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">said.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nearly all reporting cities have completed or plan to complete climate risk assessments, while health-related greenhouse gas emissions fell 16% globally between 2021 and 2022.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The 2025 Lancet Countdown report said weather-related extreme events caused $304 billion in global economic losses in 2024, which is 0.27% of global GDP.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As preparations for COP30 in Bel&eacute;m, Brazil, advance, the WHO said the report provides key evidence for placing health at the center of climate action. The organization will expand on these findings through its forthcoming COP30 Special Report on Climate Change and Health, focusing on the policies and investments needed to protect global health and equity.

Climate

The report on 'Health and climate change' urges global measures to safeguard health as rising temperatures, pollution, and fossil fuel use drive record heat deaths, disease spread, and economic losses, while highlighting progress in renewable energy and health system resilience.

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