Inside Story

Can Pakistan handle the worst flooding in decades?

At least 1,100 people have died in two months of torrential monsoon rains.

Although monsoon rains are an annual occurrence in Pakistan, this year’s deluge has caused the most destructive floods in most people’s memories.

Some provinces have received more than five times the average rainfall since June. The climate change minister has called it a “climate-induced humanitarian disaster of epic proportions”.

More than 1,100 people have died and hundreds of thousands are homeless.

Can Pakistan cope with the resulting humanitarian crisis? And how much is climate change to blame?

Presenter: Rob Matheson

Guests:

Dawar Butt – environment policy analyst

Sara Hayat – lawyer specialising in climate change policy

Peter Ophoff – head of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Pakistan