Fifteen million people worldwide are at risk of glacial lake flooding, with two million in Pakistan, according to a February study published in Nature Communications.
From 2018 to 2021, about 14 GLOFs occurred in Pakistan, which spiked to 75 in 2022, according to UNDP.
With the UN’s COP28 climate summit in Dubai, pressure is ramping up on wealthy countries to fulfil promises to help developing nations. The Green Climate Fund said it had raised $9.3 billion in October, short of its $10 billion target.
Wealthy nations are set to meet a broader $100-billion climate finance pledge to developing countries this year, three years late and short of the actual needs, estimated by the UN to be over $200 billion annually by 2030.
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) said changes driven by global warming to the Hindu Kush Himalayan region glaciers are “largely irreversible”. The area has over 200 glacial lakes considered dangerous.