Climate Change budget to be raised

Islamabad : The estimated federal climate related expenditures now remain between 5.8 and 7.6 per cent of total federal expenditures that would be increased in the coming years.

According to the official data provided by the Climate Change Ministry, the relative proportion of the climate-relevant budget spent on adaptation and mitigation varied significantly; adaptation varied between 25 and 60 per cent and mitigation between 30 and 71 per cent while the fiscal space for climate-related development expenditures is tight, it is nonetheless growing.

An augmented allocation for climate-related activities has been made in the federal budgets of 2015-16 and 2016-17. Key initiatives included interest-free loans to farmers for installation of solar tube wells; abolishment of tax duty for import of solar equipment, promotion of other renewable technologies to meet the energy needs of the country and ambitious plans of afforestation. The data pointed out that with the institutional infrastructure rapidly becoming operational at the sub-national level, the national climate policy action plans are being re-defined with sub-national governments taking on dominant roles and responsibilities.