New York City Reflection: Climate Change Across Borders

By: Mehr-un-nisa Amin (M.R.P. ’26)

I begin by sharing that I walked into this country carrying resentment in my heart. It wasn’t a choice, but rather an organic response to what I saw around me. Despite contributing barely 1% to global carbon emissions, Pakistan ranks among the top 10 countries most affected by climate change. I’ve witnessed its effects firsthand, as the changing of seasons is accompanied by dread rather than anticipation, uncertain of the intensity this chapter will bring.

We break records every summer! It sounds impressive until you realize those records are for record-breaking temperature. Who doesn’t love water, am I right? But when it floods your cities and agricultural areas during harvest season, damaging infrastructure and forcing an agrarian economy to import food (kind of embarrassing). Suddenly, you’re not such a huge fan. When I talk to my parents on the phone, we often laugh about how I see some offices in Sibley have air purifiers, while Lahore is always competing for the top spot for the worst air quality in the world as fall approaches. All these reasons make it hard not to feel some bitterness toward one of the world’s largest carbon emitters, but we try not to let that cloud our judgment.

With this new lens in mind, I made my way to New York, the first city I ever visited in the United States, eager to be swept away by the romanticism I felt at age 16. New York is the first place that allowed me mobility, granted I was under the supervision of my parent’s, but it granted me an autonomy I had never felt before, thus I was excited what new feeling it would allow me to experience this time.

Our bus dropped us off on the side of the road, which I was told was the newly built Hudson Yards. As 20 of us made our way through Midtown with our suitcases in hand, we tried to find the right station that would take us to our hotel uptown. Four weeks in New York eight years ago made me believe I could still navigate my way through, but this new neighborhood reminded me how foolish it was to think a city like this would remain the same for me. Already feeling displaced, I made my way to the subway with my peers, where we spotted our first ‘welcome to New York’ rat—a sight criticized in the rest of the world, yet normalized as part of the New York experience?

The city already felt different—was it my fully developed frontal lobe that was keeping me from falling into delusion? I decided to set aside those feelings and experience the city in its true form as we embarked on our three-day journey.

My first visit was to the Metro Transit Authority, an experience I eagerly anticipated. New York’s public transport infrastructure had given me my first taste of autonomy, and talking to the people who enable the seamless movement of millions seemed like a crucial step toward making that a reality in Pakistan. We discussed the Climate Resilience Roadmap, a $6 billion initiative born from the reality check the city faced after Superstorm Sandy and the rise in urban flooding. Most of these efforts focused on downtown Manhattan, the area most threatened by rising water levels. In the midst of all this information I had a fleeting thought in the slight moments when my bitterness takes over: would the same funds have been allocated had this not been the financial district of The New York City?

My question was answered the next day when we visited East Harlem. WE ACT for Environmental Justice took us on a walking tour of this part of the borough, highlighting issues that are often glossed over by visitors to the city. East Harlem is part of Manhattan Island and is just as prone to coastal surge impacts as downtown Manhattan according to the report, if not more! However, it is nowhere near the top of the priority list. While protecting the financial district makes sense, it highlights the reality that money attracts money. East Harlem, with its lack of visibility, struggles to get basic amenities like shade from trees, let alone the investments needed to address coastal surge impact.

This contrast spoke true to my own country’s situation where the issue of climate change is pressing, however we’re expected to flood, you know. If the same floods happen in Germany it’s a true sign of climate change and how “we” must prepare. To see this disparity happening within New York city is not something you would expect. It’s one of the richest cities in the world, why can’t it take care of its people? All of its people?

This realization slightly broke down the resentment I carried with me. I understood that it was misdirected and too simplistic. I might live in a country that appears poorer on paper, and our suffering may be overlooked, but so is the suffering of those without money in one of the most progressive cities in the world. By now, we know that climate change does not discriminate; the same issues Pakistan faces today, New York will inevitably encounter soon enough. When natural disasters strike, will we really be able to protect certain parts of the city while leaving others on the back burner? How long can we sustain resilience?

These are questions for those who are more well-read, more experienced, and hold more power than I do. Fleeting thoughts about the two realities my mind exists in during this three-day trip cannot possibly summarize New York City and its plans to combat climate change. However, what I am certain of is that the principle of money attracting money is universal—and, unlike climate change, it’s built on a foundation of discrimination.