Pakistan Faces Delay in Climate Loss and Damage Funding

Pakistan and other climate-exposed nations are facing a fresh delay in receiving support from the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage after its board postponed key funding decisions until later this year. The development affects countries seeking urgent assistance for communities already dealing with floods, heatwaves and other climate-linked disasters.

The Fund’s board met in Manila from July 8 to 10 to review the first wave of applications submitted by developing countries. Instead of approving early disbursements, the board decided that more time was needed to assess the large number of proposals against the limited money currently available.

Pakistan has submitted three projects to the fund, including proposals linked to agricultural recovery, climate-resilient health systems and compensation for damage to fish farms and hatcheries caused by flash floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One proposal has reportedly cleared peer review, while feedback on another health-focused project in Balochistan is still awaited.

Officials familiar with the process said the board received 176 requests from 119 developing countries, with combined funding needs far beyond the money set aside for initial disbursements. The first funding window has only a fraction of what vulnerable countries say they require, forcing the board to slow down approvals while it reviews applications more broadly.

Pakistan’s representative on the fund’s board, Ali Tauqeer Sheikh, said a large portion of the proposals arrived close to the submission deadline, making immediate assessment difficult. He indicated that the board hopes to review a majority of requests before its next major decision point in December, when some approvals could finally move forward.

Civil society groups have sharply criticised the delay, arguing that the fund was created for precisely the kind of urgent situations now confronting frontline communities. Harjeet Singh of the Fill the Fund campaign warned that institutional bottlenecks and limited financing risk turning the promise of climate justice into another slow-moving diplomatic process.

The Loss and Damage Fund emerged from years of pressure by developing countries that contributed little to global emissions but face heavy costs from climate disasters. It was established at COP27, moved toward operationalisation at COP28 and became fully functional after further negotiations, but the first major funding cycle has exposed the gap between political commitments and available cash.

For Pakistan, the delay carries direct policy and economic consequences. The country has faced devastating floods, repeated heatwaves and rising disaster-recovery costs, while provincial governments continue to struggle with damaged infrastructure, weakened health systems and livelihood losses in rural areas.

The next few months will be crucial for Islamabad’s climate diplomacy. Pakistan will need to keep its proposals technically strong, press for faster decision-making and work with other vulnerable countries to push donor nations toward larger contributions before the fund’s board meets again in December.