As the Third Pole Melts, Climate Diplomacy Is Hard to Come By

Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan took the stage at COP27 on Tuesday, where he called for the global community to prioritize adaptation for vulnerable countries, including his own: After devastating floods over the summer, Pakistan has been cited as one of the clearest examples of climate loss and damage. “We struggled on as raging torrents from our melting glaciers in the north ripped out over 8,000 kilometers of [roads], damaged more than 3,000 kilometers of railway track and washed away standing crops on 4 million acres, and ravaged all the four corners of Pakistan,” Sharif told fellow world leaders. “How on earth can one expect from us that we will undertake this gigantic task on our own?”

Pakistan is ranked 146th out of 182 country tiers assessed by the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative for vulnerability and climate preparedness, and it is far from alone in its exposure to melting glaciers. The country is one of eight that occupy what’s known as the Third Pole — 6,000 cubic kilometers of glacial ice, according to the Himalayan Climate and Water Atlas, the largest volume outside the North and South Poles. It’s a reservoir that also unites Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal, as well as 10 of Asia’s greatest rivers, from the Indus to the Yangtze. The area is also known as the Hindu Kush Himalayas or Asia’s Water Tower, and it supplies freshwater to over a fifth of the global population.