Pakistan prioritizes climate resilience with record climate tagged funding

ISLAMABAD: As the most affected country by climate change, the government of Pakistan in the federal budget announced full “climate-tagged” funding for the first time.

The federal government has announced Rs2.25 billion for the Green Pakistan Program, Rs16 billion for water resource projects, and Rs85 billion for adaptation measures in the budget for FY2025- 26.

Federal Minister for Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb said that climate change is an existential threat to Pakistan. It is a matter of our survival as we are among the countries most affected by climate change.

Addressing the negative effects of climate change, the federal minister said that coping with climate change requires a lot of resources. That is why the government has paid special attention to climate finance in the last sixteen (16) months, and significant achievements have been made in this regard.

The World Bank and IFC, under their Country Partnership Framework, will provide Pakistan with forty billion dollars in resources over the next ten years.. Similarly, after a year of tireless work, the IMF has provided a Resilience and Sustainability Facility of 1.4 billion dollars for Pakistan.

The government of Pakistan has also issued the first Green Sukuk, through which it has been possible to provide resources from the local market for projects related to climate change. The availability of these resources will be helpful in making Pakistan safe from climate change.