At COP30 in Belém Pakistan presented a practical step to better connect climate finance with water, sanitation and hygiene systems, emphasising the critical but often overlooked role of WASH in national adaptation planning. The move signals a push to ensure finance decisions strengthen local services and protect vulnerable communities.
WaterAid Pakistan organised a side event titled Financing Climate Resilient WASH Towards Pakistan’s CR-WASH Finance Strategy that brought together senior representatives from the Ministry of Climate Change, the Pakistan Climate Change Authority and international partners to discuss how climate finance can be directed towards resilient, inclusive and equitable WASH investments. The discussion focused on aligning investment priorities with on-the-ground needs and long-term climate risks.
Speakers highlighted Pakistan’s leadership in developing a Climate Resilient WASH Finance Strategy to align national WASH priorities with the National Climate Finance Strategy and the country’s NDC commitments. Panelists stressed that integrating Climate Resilient WASH into national planning ensures each rupee and dollar supports infrastructure and services that can withstand climate shocks and deliver sustainable outcomes.
Contributors to the dialogue included Muhammad Rafiq from the Pakistan Climate Change Authority, Darren Karjama from the Green Climate Fund, Aisha Jamshed of Welthungerhilfe Pakistan, Sohail Malik of CRCC-NRSP and Jack Wakefield of WaterAid. Their remarks examined practical financing mechanisms, inclusive criteria for vulnerable populations and methods to measure resilience gains within WASH programmes.
This initiative builds on WaterAid’s global advocacy for including WASH within the Global Goal on Adaptation, reinforcing that climate finance must be accessible to communities on the front lines and designed to strengthen Pakistan’s WASH systems for the long term.
