07-08-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
Minister advocates effective climate finance mobilisation
ISLAMABAD: Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Senator Musadiq Masood Malik said that the ministries of Finance and Economic Affairs directly deal for $21.85 billion loans agreements, with the Work Bank ($20 billion) and IMF ($ 1.3 billion) and Asian Development Bank ($550 million), as these are budgetary support for climate resilience projects.
In a written reply to a question to the National Assembly on Wednesday, Musadiq Masood Malik said that Ministry of Climate Change supported implementation of the climate change-related policy interventions of these loan agreements. He said that the Minister for Finance has given verbal commitment to allocate funds from these budgetary support loans for climate-related interventions, for which, the ministry is preparing projects to create resilience against climate challenges.
He said that there are three main sources for climate-specific funding namely, Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Adaptation Fund. He said that these three sources have mandated climate priorities where the funds could be spend. He said that the Ministry of Climate Change being national designated authority for these funds ensures that all the projects submitted for climate funding to these entities falls within the priorities as indicated in the National Adaptation Plan approved by the federal government and these projects are focused on climate-related activities.
The minister said that in addition these entities also screen all the projects submitted for climate funding have significant climate action to justify the funds. He said that the implementation monitoring of these projects is also carried out both by the ministry, as well as, these entities on periodic basis to ensure that the funds are not diverted to unrelated projects.
He said that transparency and accountability of these projects is ensured through dedicated Project Steering Committees set up for each project, which meet regularly to ensure that the project implementation is carried out in a transparent manner and project team is made fully accountable for any lapse in project implementation.
The minister said that the Ministry of Climate Change is developing National Climate Finance Strategy (NCFS) with the core objective to leverage climate finance internationally and domestically by promoting green financing. He said that it is important to provide a comprehensive framework for mobilising and deploying climate finance, aligning with national priorities and international commitments.
He said that a comprehensive implementation, monitoring and accountability mechanism is being devised by opting whole of government approach which will include all stakeholders (relevant federal ministries, all the provinces including AJK and GB and Pakistan Climate Change Council which is chaired by the prime minister).
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
