Over the past 16 years, from 2007 to 2023-24, the Sindh province allocated a staggering Rs48.8 billion for climate-related initiatives, but its related departments managed to spend only Rs20 billion out of it, a mere 41% of the total budget.
A Climate Budget Report produced by a research and analysis startup The Citizenry Karachi which was unveiled on Monday here in collaboration with the Climate Action Center, Karachi has uncovered a startling revelation about Sindh’s commitment to addressing climate change. The report, which analyzed the performance of various climate-related departments, paints a grim picture of the government’s priorities.
The Citizenry’s key researchers, Oonib Azam and Sadia Siddiqi, delivered a comprehensive presentation, providing background information on how they collected the data. They also commended the Finance Department for effectively presenting all budget data on its website.
In a subsequent panel discussion, the Chief Conservator of the Forest Department highlighted that the allocations made to various climate-related departments are already meager. The fact that not much has been spent from these allocations is a matter of grave concern. The Forest Department primarily utilizes its development budget components due to the keen interest of its technical workforce.
