Pakistan’s Climate Crisis Deepens as Donor Aid Falls Short Amid Devastating Floods

Torrential monsoon rains in Pakistan have once again submerged many parts of the country. The ongoing downpours have caused flooding in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab provinces, killing at least 200 people since late June. Flash floods have swept away homes and livelihoods across the country. Financial costs for rebuilding the lost infrastructure will be huge and will have an unprecedented impact on the national economy. Pakistan is already struggling with debt servicing. What makes this situation more worrying is that the country’s national weather agency, called the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has already issued a warning of heavy rains and floods in the coming weeks.

The ongoing monsoon situation recalls the catastrophic floods of 2022, which submerged one-third of the country and resulted in 1,739 deaths. The 2022 floods in Pakistan affected more than 33 million people, displaced nearly 8 million, and caused $40 billion in damages to the economy.

The monsoon season has just started in Pakistan. The preliminary data suggests that the rate and extent of the floods and rains across Pakistan are significantly higher when compared to last year.

It is too early to say whether the damages will be as severe as the 2022 floods, but this could happen if the monsoon rains and floods continue through September. In any case, the losses are expected to reach billions of dollars.

Pakistan has consistently ranked as one of the countries most affected by climate change-related events. This is a cost Pakistan continue to bear even though it contributes less than 1 percent to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Heatwaves, which in some regions last from May to July, have now been termed a “fifth season” in Pakistan. From October to December, air pollution or smog becomes a major health emergency in the country. Research shows that Pakistan’s health system lacks capacity to track the true number of deaths caused by climate-related disasters such as floods and extreme heat.

As Pakistan’s climate crisis goes from bad to worse, the government’s approach of seeking international support has yielded no meaningful dividends, instead creating a persistent dependency. If left unaddressed, the problem could become even more concerning than the ongoing political and terrorism-related challenges, with severe consequences for the country’s stability.

For years, elected governments in Pakistan have responded to floods and climate-related challenges with ambitious plans. However, limited resources and lack of adequate preparedness have always undercut these plans.

For example, the Living Indus Initiative was launched by Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change in 2022 in collaboration with the United Nations. The project, which aims to restore the Indus River Basin and enhance climate resilience, involves interventions regarding flood-management and climate-resilient agriculture among other actions. It is estimated to cost more than $17 billion. While the project has garnered significant attention in Pakistan’s policymaking circles and globally, funding for it remains a critical challenge. So far, Pakistan has only managed to secure partial allocation for the project with commitments made by the international community yet to realize.

Moreover, at the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP29) in 2024, Pakistan championed the cause for setting up a “loss and damage fund,” which advocated for climate-related funding, particularly for countries contributing less than 1 percent of global emissions.

So far, the international community has pledged approximately $768 million to the fund. However, the funds pledged significantly fall short of the estimated $400 annually needed to meet climate-related damages in developing countries. As per some estimates, climate-related loss and damages will require around $1.7 trillion by 2030 for the most vulnerable countries.

There is no specific data as of yet regarding how much money Pakistan has received in direct disbursements from the loss and damage fund – if it has received any financial support at all as part of the initiative.

In another push to gain international support, Pakistan recently hosted a U.N.-supported donors conference, which pledged $10 billion for post-2022 flood recovery projects. However, only $2.4 billion has been received by Pakistan as part of the initiative, most of it as loans rather than grants. A major portion of these funds was received as financial assistance planned as debt, including the recently approved $1.3 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Similarly, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $500 million policy-based loan to support efforts aimed at disaster risk reduction in Pakistan.

Arguably, the support provided by the IMF and ADB underscores a troubling pattern. Climate support is structured as debt rather than as grants or as part of the loss and damage funding. This support burdens Pakistan with more financial obligations at a time when its economy is grappling with significant debt-related payments. Pakistan’s reliance on loans for climate resilience initiatives is perpetuating the country’s debt cycle rather than offering meaningful relief or creating space for sustainable economic interventions.

Above all, these funds are clearly insufficient considering Pakistan’s funding needs. According to estimates from the World Bank, Pakistan needs approximately $350 billion to combat climate change between 2023 to 2030. This requires a comprehensive climate financing strategy, which seems to be missing from Pakistan’s plans.

What is even more worrying is the ongoing downscaling or shutdown of international donor supported climate-related projects in Pakistan. For example, the United States recently suspended a significant portion of its aid to Pakistan, including several climate-related projects under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The development has halted or significantly affected USAID projects in Pakistan worth over $845 million. The suspension paused a $77 million project that aims to improve water systems and green infrastructure in the Indus Basin in Pakistan. Moreover, the decision has led to closure or downscaling of more than 60 health facilities in climate vulnerable regions across the country.

Similarly, in July 2025, a World Bank-financed Pakistan Hydromet and Climate Services Project concluded without delivering several parts of its originally planned infrastructure, including weather radars, automatic weather stations, and observatories across the country.  Moreover, other project components expected to improve the service delivery capacity of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, private sector engagement, and mitigation of seismic and glacial hazards were also removed from the plans.

These trends clearly highlight a critical gap in Pakistan’s efforts to gain much-needed support for its climate-related issues from the international community. The country must rethink its approach and dependency on donor support as international support dries up. Pakistan cannot rely only on international support to find sustainable answers to its climate challenges.

The ongoing floods highlight the worsening climate crisis in Pakistan, with the government and international community struggling to deal with the destruction or adequately prepare for it. Pakistan’s approach must urgently shift toward self-reliance.

In a first, the government in Pakistan termed its 2025-26 fiscal year budget “climate focused” in an indication of realization of the looming crisis. This marks a paradigm shift in national economic planning. But critics contend that the policy shift is driven by monetary compulsions to secure climate funds from the IMF and other international financial institutions.

Time is clearly not on Pakistan’s side. A failure to prepare adequate finances and address these challenges risks triggering a catastrophic crisis far sooner than expected.