KEY POINTS
- Pakistan remains among world’s most climate-vulnerable countries
- Tauqir Shah calls for overhaul of global climate finance systems
- Cites bureaucratic paralysis, debt-heavy mechanisms, and disbursement delays
- Warns water crisis is now “existential” as Pakistan turns water-scarce
- Urges shift toward “speed, trust, and financial innovation”
ROME, Italy: Pakistan stands on the global frontline of climate and water crises, but continues to face severe delays in accessing essential funding due to bureaucratic gridlock and slow disbursement by international finance institutions.
According to the Associated Press of Pakistan (AAP), Advisor to the Prime Minister Syed Tauqir Shah made these remarks while delivering Pakistan’s national statement at the FAO’s Rome Water Dialogue.
Shah told delegates — including heads of government, ministers, civil society representatives, and development professionals — that “the water crisis is no longer an abstract policy discussion; it is an existential challenge for many countries in the Global South.”
He said Pakistan, now ranked as the fifth most climate-vulnerable country in the world, had officially entered the category of water-scarce nations, where national water and food security are under direct threat from extreme weather events and chronic resource stress.
Citing the scale of recent disasters, Shah recalled that the 2022 floods had affected more than 33 million people, destroyed over 4 million acres of farmland, and left 10 million people without safe drinking water.
The 2025 floods, he said, were “equally catastrophic.” At the other extreme, Pakistan’s total water storage capacity is limited to only about 30 days of supply, far below global sustainability thresholds.
“Our need is clear and urgent,” he said. “We require massive, timely investments in climate-resilient water infrastructure — a combination of high-storage solutions and Nature-based Solutions such as floodplain restoration, resilient irrigation techniques, and watershed management.”
Pakistan’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) estimate the need for $7–14 billion annually for adaptation by 2030, yet global climate finance mechanisms remain inaccessible and counterproductive.
He criticised the global climate finance architecture, saying it is “characterised by complexity, debt, and delay.”
Despite Pakistan’s urgent needs, the country has struggled to utilise available funds due to the highly technical and restrictive criteria imposed by funding institutions.
Even when projects are approved, he added, funds take years to disburse. Quoting the Green Climate Fund’s Independent Evaluation Unit (IEU), Shah said the Fund’s internal processes are “complex, fragmented, and marked by bottlenecks.”
He noted that the average approval time exceeds 24 months, while the first disbursement can take another 9–18 months.
“Global climate finance is held back by bureaucracy, not by lack of funds,” he declared, calling for a complete reform of climate finance institutions.
Shah said the majority of available climate finance still takes the form of debt and concessional loans, whereas only a small fraction is offered as grants. “Such debt adds further burden to already fragile economies,” he added.
In his closing appeal, Shah urged world leaders to “shift the paradigm from an architecture of complexity and debt to one of speed and trust.”
He called for financial innovation mechanisms such as blended finance, green bonds, climate insurance, and incubation programmes to de-risk private investment and support smallholder farmers.
“Water is not just about rivers or canals — it is about people, dignity, and life itself,” he said, reaffirming Pakistan’s readiness to collaborate regionally and globally to safeguard the planet’s shared water future.
