Senate panel voices alarm over climate funding cuts amid rising risks

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination raised concern on Thursday over continued reductions in development funding for the climate ministry, as lawmakers were told Pakistan is heading into a period of greater climate vulnerability marked by intensifying heatwaves, faster glacier melt, erratic rainfall, growing water insecurity and mounting environmental pressure in cities.

Chairing the committee meeting, Senator Sherry Rehman described the cuts in climate allocations as shocking and said the decline in resources was at odds with the scale of the threat facing the country. She pointed to the Public Sector Development Programme allocation for the climate ministry, which stands at Rs2.478 billion for 2026-27 after falling from Rs3.5 billion to Rs2.7 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Rehman also noted that the ministry had faced difficulties in fully utilising funds allocated in earlier years, but said the downward trend in budgetary support remained troubling as climate-related dangers were increasing.

"Climate risks are increasing, not decreasing. Yet allocations continue to shrink while implementation challenges persist," she said, addressing the meeting.

The committee chairperson also questioned the purpose of the Climate Change Authority, arguing that Pakistan needed stronger coordination in climate governance rather than an additional bureaucratic layer. She asked what role the authority was performing that the ministry itself could not carry out, and described it as another state-owned entity without clearly defined objectives.

Referring to official figures, Rehman said losses posted by state-owned enterprises had reached Rs832.8 billion in FY2025, while cumulative losses had climbed to Rs6.56 trillion. She added that Rs451 billion had once again been allocated to SOEs in the current budget.

Monsoon preparedness reviewed

The committee also examined preparations for the coming monsoon season and received detailed briefings from the National Disaster Management Authority and the Capital Development Authority.

NDMA Chairman Inam Haider Malik told lawmakers that the 2026-27 period was expected to be shaped by El Niño conditions, a pattern he said could raise the likelihood of extreme weather events and greater climate variability across the region.

The discussion took place as the committee linked shrinking climate-sector allocations with the need for stronger readiness against weather-related threats, including irregular rainfall and rising environmental stress. The meeting focused both on the ministry’s funding trajectory and on institutional preparedness for the risks expected in the months ahead.