# Sherry Rehman Questions Need for Pakistan Climate Change Authority
**ISLAMABAD:** Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change Chairperson **Senator Sherry Rehman** has questioned the institutional need for the **Pakistan Climate Change Authority (PCCA)**, arguing that its mandate substantially overlaps with that of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination.
During a detailed briefing on the PCCA, the committee expressed concerns over institutional duplication, particularly at a time when the ministry is facing constrained and declining budgetary resources.
Senator Rehman noted that the ministry’s **PSDP allocation had fallen to Rs2.478 billion**, after being reduced from Rs3.5 billion to Rs2.7 billion in the previous fiscal year. She questioned the rationale for establishing a separate authority and sanctioning **24 posts** when many of its functions are already assigned to the ministry.
She asked what additional value the PCCA was creating when its stated responsibilities largely fell within the existing mandate of the ministry.
Rehman also criticised the creation of additional institutional structures while government resources were being reduced, particularly as ministry officers and technical personnel were being moved to the Authority on deputation.
She stressed that her concerns were not directed at individual officers but at what she described as **institutional duplication and the repeated transfer of the same expertise between government structures**.
The committee was informed that several technical experts associated with the PCCA had previously served in the Ministry of Climate Change. Rehman questioned the rationale behind shifting the same personnel, including retired officials, to a new institution when the Authority had initially been justified on the grounds of providing enhanced technical capacity.
She asked whether the ministry itself could have been strengthened instead of creating a separate authority.
The Senator also questioned the PCCA’s role in coordinating with provincial governments, pointing out that the ministry already has a clear mandate for federal-provincial coordination. She observed that provincial governments may still require the direct involvement of the ministry’s secretary when dealing with climate-related matters.
Another key issue was the Authority’s capacity to mobilise **international climate finance**, including funding through the **Green Climate Fund (GCF)**. The committee did not receive a satisfactory explanation regarding the PCCA’s contribution to securing such financing.
Rehman said any new climate institution must demonstrate genuinely specialised and internationally competitive capabilities rather than replicate existing functions, expertise and personnel.
She directed the climate ministry’s secretary to return to the committee with a detailed explanation of the movement of officers and institutional responsibilities, particularly in view of the ministry’s declining resources.
### Committee Reviews GLOF and Glacier Risks
The committee also reviewed developments concerning **glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs)**, Pakistan’s increasingly vulnerable cryosphere and risks faced by communities living in high-altitude and glacial regions.
A UNDP official informed the committee that Pakistan has more than **30,000 glaciers** and that climate change is accelerating glacial melt. The committee was also briefed that **108 disaster events**, including two GLOF incidents, had been managed through early warning systems.
Rehman expressed dissatisfaction with the briefing, noting that much of the presentation was similar to one given to the committee the previous year and did not sufficiently demonstrate what concrete measures had been implemented since then.
She called for greater focus on the **scale and pace of glacial melting**, the vulnerabilities of communities in affected regions and Pakistan’s long-term strategy for addressing the growing risks associated with the cryosphere.
The Senator also stressed that GLOF preparedness should not be treated as an isolated climate issue and called for closer coordination between the **National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)** and the **Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD)**.
She said PMD should provide critical technical information on weather, climate and glacial conditions, while NDMA must remain fully integrated into preparedness, emergency response and disaster-risk management.
Story by Asim Yasin
