Mainstreaming Climate Change into Development Planning in Pakistan: Key Barriers and Way Forward

Pakistan, highly vulnerable to escalating climate impacts, faces devastating floods and economic losses that actively reverse development gains and threaten lives and livelihoods. This paper addresses the critical need to integrate climate change into Pakistan's national development planning and budgeting. It investigates why this is vital, how it can be achieved, and the associated challenges and opportunities, employing a qualitative approach with policy and document analysis. Key findings highlight significant barriers to effective mainstreaming, including fragmented institutional coordination across federal and provincial levels, limited financial and technical capacities within government entities, weak enforcement mechanisms, and insufficient political prioritisation alongside challenges in mobilising adequate climate finance. The paper argues that a sustainable future for Pakistan hinges on embedding climate risk assessments and adaptation goals across all stages of development projects and within public financial management systems. The paper argues that effective mainstreaming requires embedding climate risk screening into planning and financial management, fostering robust inter-institutional collaboration, revising sectoral policies, enhancing climate education, and strategically mobilising both domestic and international climate finance, including leveraging public-private partnerships.