By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Wednesday called for a focused, government-led climate finance platform with strong provincial ownership and meaningful community participation to help Pakistan unlock international funding for a just energy transition. The call came during a high-level consultation in Islamabad attended by local and international experts, policymakers and development partners.
The consultation featured two roundtable discussions on strengthening policy credibility to mobilize climate finance and embedding justice and equity into Pakistan’s energy transition framework.
Dr Crispian Olver, Senior Advisor at the Country Platforms Hub, said successful country platforms are government-owned rather than donor-driven and should pursue long-term sectoral transformation.
Drawing on South Africa’s experience, he said regulatory reforms helped mobilize an $8.5 billion concessional finance package that unlocked nearly $100 billion in private investment while bringing around 10 gigawatts of new private electricity generation online within two years.
SDPI Research Associate Nismah Rizwan said the global climate finance gap continues to widen, with at least $6.5 trillion needed by 2030 and around $8 trillion by 2035 to keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target within reach.
She noted that Pakistan’s Climate Prosperity Plan identifies a country platform as its primary implementation mechanism.
Experts warned that fragmented policies, weak alignment between climate and fiscal commitments and a shortage of bankable projects continue to limit Pakistan’s ability to attract international climate finance.
Thomas McEwan of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) stressed that strong government ownership, empowered lead ministries and institutional coordination are essential for successful country platforms, adding that financing targets must be translated into measurable project pipelines.
Hadika Jamshed of the NDC Partnership said an ongoing Water-Energy Food Nexus initiative has identified nearly 3,000 potential projects from provinces and is narrowing them down to priority investments.
Opening the second roundtable, Engineer Ubaid ur Rehman Zia, Head of SDPI’s Energy Unit, said repeated policy reversals, including the shift from net metering to net billing for solar consumers, have weakened investor confidence. He added that electricity tariffs have risen by around 150 percent, largely due to capacity payments under existing power purchase agreements.
Other speakers emphasized that climate finance must ensure meaningful community participation, protect vulnerable groups and deliver equitable outcomes.
Concluding the consultation, SDPI Research Fellow Dr. Khalid Waleed said the institute would submit its recommendations to the Ministries of Finance and Climate Change and Environmental Coordination to help shape Pakistan’s proposed climate finance platform.
