Zaki Abbas
June 21, 2026
A general view of river Ravi — Murtaza Ali/White Star
• Allocations in all climate heads face cuts, except for disaster management
• Experts call for transparency in climate spending, structural reforms
ISLAMABAD: Climate allocations in the next fiscal year’s
federal budget again fall short of putting Pakistan on a path towards a climate-smart future and inclusive growth despite the immediate risks it poses to the country.
Except for disaster management finance, allocations in almost all climate categories have decreased compared to the outgoing financial year.
The mitigation funds have been reduced from Rs603 billion to Rs124 billion, while adaptation money has been slashed from Rs85bn to Rs70bn.
The “green component” of subsidies also experienced budget cuts, with the energy sector’s allocation declining to Rs423 billion from Rs529 billion. Similarly, the food, industry, transport, and agriculture sectors also faced cuts in the proposed budget presented by the government on June 12.
Giovanni Maurice Pradipta, who is a policy adviser at global NGO Germanwatch, questioned this approach.
“Given the country’s exposure to floods and heat waves, adaptation and resilience should receive at least as much attention as mitigation,” he said, adding it was equally important to prepare developing countries’ budgets and fiscal space for climate action, as it was to push for multilateral (global) solutions.