BUDGET 2026-27: ‘Shocking’ climate budget cut draws warning from Sherry Rehman

• Calls for better coordination to tackle ‘climate polycrisis’ as funding drops to Rs2.48bn from Rs3.5bn
• Terms monsoon preparedness ‘immediate’ priority
• Questions need for proposed Climate Authority

ISLAMABAD: Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination chairperson Senator Sherry Rehman on Thursday called recent reductions in climate-related budget allocations “shocking,” warning that Pakistan is entering a period of heightened environmental vulnerability marked by worsening climate extremes.

Presiding over a committee meeting, Rehman said the country is facing intensifying heatwaves, accelerated glacier melt, erratic rainfall patterns, increasing water scarcity, and deteriorating urban environmental conditions.

She stressed that monsoon preparedness must remain an immediate national priority, calling for stronger institutional coordination to address what she described as a growing “climate polycrisis”.

Expressing concern over shrinking financial commitments, the committee noted that the Climate Mi­­nistry’s Public Sector Development Program­­me allocation dropped to Rs2.478 billion, down from Rs3.5bn in the previous fiscal cycle.

“Climate risks are increasing, not decreasing, yet allocations continue to shrink,” Rehman said, also pointing to the ministry’s limited capacity to fully utilise already allocated funds.

The senator questioned the rationale behind establishing parallel institutions such as the proposed Climate Authority. She asked what additional role the authority would serve beyond the existing ministry, warning against creating bureaucratic overlaps that add to the financial burden.

Citing official figures, Reh­m­­an noted that losses of state-owned enterprises reached Rs832.848bn in fiscal year 2025, with cumulative losses exceeding Rs6.5tr, while another Rs451bn had been allocated to such entities in the current budget.

Turning to the upcoming monsoon season, the committee received briefings from the National Disaster Management Authority and the Capital Development Authority.

NDMA Chairman Inam Haider Malik informed members that the 2026-27 period is expected to be influenced by El Niño conditions, which are likely to intensify extreme weather events across the region.

Malik said global temperatures in June 2026 were approximately 1.47 degrees Celsius above historical averages, while Pakistan’s temperatures were around 1.56 degrees Celsius above baseline levels. He cautioned that climate thresholds once expected later in the decade are being reached earlier than anticipated.

Rehman raised concerns about the long-term implications of glacier loss on water security, asking how future reservoir supplies would be sustained.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2026 ...