Pakistan, Aug. 16 -- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is in mourning once more. At least 198 people have been killed in a single day, while a provincial rescue helicopter crash claimed five more lives.

Villages in Buner, Bajaur, Battagram and Mansehra lie destroyed; bridges and schools washed away. Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has declared a health emergency. Yet his government, like Islamabad, cannot escape responsibility for the scale of this devastation.

Pakistan is not caught unawares. It is ranked among the world's ten most climate-vulnerable states. In 2010, nearly 1,985 people died and 20 million were affected, most in KP. In 2022, one-third of the country was underwater, 1,700 killed, with USD 14.9bn in damages and USD 15.2bn in economic ...