Pakistan has $700mn annually for climate projects, says Aurangzeb
Pakistan has secured $700 million annually for climate interventions through a 10-year, $2 billion per year partnership with the World Bank, aiming to address existential climate and population challenges.
- Pakistan's $700 million annual climate funding
- World Bank's 10-year partnership framework
- Climate and population as existential issues for Pakistan
Pakistan has around $700 million available annually for climate-related interventions under its 10-year partnership with the World Bank, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday.
Talking at the National Disaster Management Authority headquarters, the finance minister said that the 10-Year Country Partnership Framework negotiated with the World Bank had two pillars, in addition to the fiscal pillar, namely population and climate.
“This is a programme of $2 billion per year for the next 10 years, which means around $700 million every year is available for climate-related interventions,” he said.
“We have to come up with investable, bankable projects. We have the funds available. Now let’s just ensure that we utilise them properly.”
Last year, Pakistan and the World Bank formally entered into a robust 10-year Country Partnership Framework (CPF), which outlines a long-term, focused partnership to support the country’s reform and development agenda.
In his speech, the finance minister termed population and climate change as two existential issues for Pakistan. “The whole of the government approach in this regard is the right way forward,” he said.
Aurangzeb said that unlike in the past, the government has fiscal space available to “be used for rescue and relief operations” in case of climate-related disasters.
“By the time we get to 100, i.e. 2047, if we don’t properly address these two things, then it’s not a question of whether we grow at 4%, 5%, 6% or 8%. Both of these existential issues are denting our productive capacity in this country,” said Aurangzeb.
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