Senators Denounce “Terrible Disconnect” Between Federal and Provincial Governments, Call for Political Ownership of Climate Policy
Nadeem Tanoli
Islamabad: The Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change erupted in rare bipartisan frustration as lawmakers condemned the federal government’s failure to coordinate with provinces on national climate action, branding it a “terrible disconnect” that continues to cripple Pakistan’s environmental response. The session, meant to review preparations for the upcoming COP-30 summit in Brazil, quickly turned into a heated indictment of Islamabad’s top-down climate bureaucracy.
Members argued that the provinces the front line of flood recovery, drought management, and adaptation projects remain politically excluded from decisions that directly affect them. They noted that communication is limited to letters exchanged between bureaucrats, with little to no engagement between elected leadership. One senator remarked that the ministry’s approach “has reduced climate governance to file work,” while another said that the “habit of operating in silos” has turned federal-provincial relations into a revolving crisis that resurfaces before every global climate conference.
The committee’s patience appeared to snap when the ministry’s officials attempted to defend themselves by citing regular correspondence with chief secretaries. Lawmakers rejected the explanation outright, insisting that administrative coordination cannot replace political dialogue. They pointed out that when international funds arrive in Islamabad under the banner of climate finance, provinces rarely see the benefits on the ground particularly in flood-hit regions still waiting for rehabilitation aid promised after 2022.
The discussion revealed what members called a chronic pattern: federal ministries securing climate commitments abroad while provincial authorities remain uninformed, underfunded, and unrepresented. Senators warned that this disconnect risks eroding Pakistan’s credibility at COP-30, where the country is expected to present a unified national strategy on resilience, adaptation, and loss-and-damage financing.
Committee chairperson Senator Sherry Rehman emphasized that climate action cannot succeed through bureaucracy alone. “This is political work,” she said firmly, urging the ministry to involve provincial ministers, not just civil servants, in formulating climate policy. The committee demanded that the Ministry of Climate Change use Parliament as a bridge to convene direct consultations with all provincial governments ahead of COP-30.
The Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change concluded that the ministry’s current coordination framework is structurally inadequate and recommended the creation of a permanent intergovernmental climate council composed of federal and provincial political leaders. The senators cautioned that without such a mechanism, Pakistan risks entering future climate negotiations fragmented, voiceless, and unprepared to defend its national interests on the global stage.
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