Adviser to the Prime Minister Tauqir Shah has blamed paralyzing bureaucratic delays and slow disbursement of funds for Pakistan’s struggle in accessing required resources despite being on the global frontline of climate and water crises.
Addressing the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s Rome Water Dialogue, he stressed that the water crisis is “no longer an abstract policy discussion; it is an existential challenge for many countries in the Global South.” Noting that Pakistan is the fifth most climate vulnerable country in the world, he emphasized that the country’s water security—and by extension national food security—was under threat from extreme climate events and chronic resource stress. “Today, Pakistan has crossed the critical threshold and is now officially a water-scarce nation,” he added.
“This crisis manifests in two ways: first, in devastating abundance, as seen during the 2022 floods, which impacted over 33 million people, destroyed four million acres of agricultural land, and left 10 million people without safe drinking water. Recently, the 2025 floods have been as catastrophic,” he said, adding the second was crippling scarcity, with total water storage capacity limited to only about 30 days of supply. “Our need is clear and urgent: we require massive, timely investments in climate-resilient water infrastructure,” he stressed.
This, he said, requires a mix of traditional, high-storage solutions alongside nature-based solutions, such as restoring floodplains, developing resilient irrigation techniques, and implementing watershed management. Censuring Global Climate Finance Institutions, he said Pakistan required an estimated $7-$14 billion annually for adaptation efforts alone by 2030. “Yet, we are met with a global finance architecture that has turned the required investment into a paradox,” he lamented.
Building a case for reform within Global Climate Finance Institutions, he said the current global climate fund mechanism is characterized by critical failings that directly hamper abilities to invest and innovate in water resilience. Despite the staggering national need, he said, Pakistan has been unable to fully utilize available global climate funds due to global funds’ requirement of “bankable” project proposals that requires years of institutional capacity to develop. Even if approved, he said, funds are subject to slow disbursement rates and multi-year legal processes.
“We find that the maximum available climate finance takes the form of debt and concessional loans, with only a small fraction available as grants,” said Shah, lamenting vulnerable economics struggling with macroeconomic stability were put under even further debt.
Noting that development experts criticize major climate funds for sluggish processing, excessive bureaucracy and disbursement delays, he urged global partners to shift the paradigm to one of “speed and trust.” He emphasized on the need for financial innovation that focused on leveraging blended finance, green bonds, insurance mechanisms and incubation programs to de-risk private investment and increase access to finance for smallholder farmers.
“The Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 6 (clean water) and SDG 2 (zero hunger), will remain beyond reach unless we confront this challenge head-on,” he added.