KARACHI: Transparency International Pakistan has released its report titled “Financing Climate Action: Enhancing Effectiveness and Transparency in Pakistan’s Climate Governance Frameworks”.
The report is an assessment of existing frameworks driving climate governance in Pakistan with an aim to identify areas of improvement and implementation gaps, specifically focusing on transparency, inclusiveness, and effectiveness of the country’s response to climate change at the federal and provincial levels.
The report notes that Pakistan experiences an average annual loss of US$4 billion due to a high vulnerability to climate change-induced events. Pakistan has made its NDC commitments contingent upon receiving adequate finance. Given climate finance inflows are very low, these commitments cannot be implemented without effective access to international climate finance. Pakistan ranks among the top ten countries most impacted by climate change, it does not feature among the top ten recipients of climate finance.
The report further notes that while clear climate change mitigation and adaptation targets are set, limited progress has been made in establishing a suitable and well-integrated climate finance regime in Pakistan that can allow effective access to financial resources. The report notes that the Climate Change institutions as set under the Climate Change Act 2017 need to be operationalized and empowered and be the primary drivers of integrating climate in governance, both horizontally and vertical, across the federal and provincial governments.
Mr. Kashif Ali, Executive Director TI Pakistan highlighted that “Due to the cross-cutting nature of climate governance, it is important that a whole-of-society approach is taken in policy design, and a whole-of-government approach taken into consideration for administration, with the legally mandated Climate Change institutions leading in both fronts. To improve climate governance in a long-lasting manner, the report recommends it should be integrated into national development plans (such as the long-term plans prepared by the Planning Commission). This integration will gradually allow uptake of climate governance priorities within the whole public sector and align it with adaptation and mitigation goals set by the federal government.
There is also a need to align our climate governance frameworks with international best practices, as well as ensure better coordination, inclusive policy-making, and appropriate capacity enhancement at sub-national levels. This will allow the Government of Pakistan to both create an enabling environment for achieving its NDCs, as well as develop long-term resilience and reduce its vulnerability to the climate crisis through increased access to climate finance, which at the moment remain meagre compared to the needs of the country”.
Transparency International Pakistan has provided 10 recommendations to strengthen climate governance in the country, including a) Climate Change institutions as set under the Climate Change Act need to be operationalized and empowered b) A ‘whole of society’ approach which invites public and expert participation in climate planning and decision making must be adopted c) Integrate Transparency & Climate perspective in project designs including at planning and budgeting level d) Capacity Building of key auditing and reporting institutions, including corruption watchdogs e) Policy lag between national and provincial Climate policies and lack of institutional capacity f) Enhance climate budgetary allocations in proportionate to the scale of climate change crisis g) Ensuring compliance with Public Procuring Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Rules to enhance transparency of climate projects h) Establish open database on Climate Finance i) Enhance climate governance integrity using global best practices j) Ensuring appropriate mechanisms and capacity to capture complaints and enforce anti-corruption measures is of vital importance.
Justice (R) Zia Perwez Chairman, TI Pakistan said it is hoped that Federal and Provincial Governments, International Development Partners and Civil Society Stakeholders will take key lessons and recommendations provided in the report to help guide Pakistan be better prepared in the decades to come.
