KARACHI: Advisor to the Finance Minister Khurram has called for decentralising climate governance and finance, stressing that effective climate resilience can only be achieved when resources, decision-making and implementation are shifted to the local level.
He was speaking at a high-level panel session titled “Decentralizing Climate Action: Unlocking Local Governments’ Role in Climate Finance” during Climate Week Karachi 2026, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday.
The advisor noted that while global climate discussions often centre on pledges, targets and policy frameworks, real climate resilience is built through execution, access to finance and delivery on the ground. “Climate impacts are felt locally, and solutions must therefore be designed and implemented at the local level,” he said.
The session was jointly organised by the Centre for Business and Economic Research (CBER), Institute of Business Administration (IBA), and Transparency International Pakistan, with support from the Climate Action Center (CAC).
Khurram emphasised that Pakistan’s climate response must move beyond strategy documents and policy statements toward practical, scalable financing mechanisms that empower households, farmers, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and local governments to invest in climate resilience.
He outlined five key climate finance pathways to support decentralised action. These include digital and collateral-free agricultural loans for smallholder farmers; energy transition financing for households and MSMEs; affordable loans for climate-resilient housing; outcomes-linked financing instruments to attract private capital; and risk-sharing digital public infrastructure aimed at de-risking banks and unlocking greater climate investment.
Participants of the panel echoed a unified message that local governments are not peripheral but central to climate action. As climate risks manifest at the community level, speakers agreed that resilience must be built within cities, districts and neighbourhoods through empowered local institutions and accessible finance.
The session concluded with a call for stronger coordination between federal and provincial authorities, financial institutions and local governments to ensure that climate finance reaches the frontlines where it is needed most.
