ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman expressed serious concerns over the 100 percent increase in the Climate Support Levy and the alleged non-utilization of the funds for environmental and climate-related projects.
In a statement on Thursday, Sherry Rehman said that despite the doubling of the Climate Support Levy, there was no visible evidence that the revenue was being spent on climate adaptation or environmental protection initiatives. She called on the government to disclose where the money collected under the levy was being allocated.
She urged the government to separate the Climate Support Levy from the petroleum levy and establish a transparent mechanism to ensure that every rupee collected under the levy is used exclusively for environmental and climate resilience projects.
Highlighting Pakistan’s growing climate vulnerabilities, Rehman said glaciers were melting at an alarming rate while flood risks continued to increase, making the effective utilization of climate funds more critical than ever.
“The purpose of the Climate Support Levy should not be merely to generate revenue but to protect the environment,” she said, adding that citizens paying the additional levy deserved to see tangible benefits from the funds collected.
The PPP leader urged the government to release complete details of the projects financed through the Climate Support Levy and called for regular audits and independent oversight of climate-related expenditures to ensure transparency and accountability.
She also criticized what she described as contradictory government policies, saying that increasing the Climate Support Levy while reducing the environmental budget undermined the country’s climate commitments.
She stressed that the Climate Support Levy represented public money and that the government must account for every rupee collected and spent, urging the establishment of a separate and transparent system for both the collection and utilization of Climate Support Levy funds in view of the escalating challenges posed by climate change.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026