ISLAMABAD, September 10, 2026: Chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman has questioned the need for maintaining the Pakistan Climate Change Authority (PCCA), saying its mandate, functions and technical expertise substantially overlap with those of the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination.
Chairing a meeting of the committee, Senator Sherry Rehman said the government should review the institutional structure of the PCCA, particularly as the climate change ministry faces declining budgetary resources.
She noted that the ministry’s allocation under the Public Sector Development Programme had been reduced to Rs2.478 billion from Rs3.5 billion, compared with Rs2.7 billion allocated in the previous fiscal year. Against this backdrop, she questioned the rationale for maintaining a separate authority with 24 sanctioned posts when many of its core responsibilities appeared to duplicate those already assigned to the ministry.
“The question is what additional value is this authority creating when the functions listed under its mandate are already the responsibility of the ministry?” she asked.
The senator also raised concerns over the deputation of ministry officials to the authority and the transfer of technical personnel between the two institutions. She clarified that her concerns were not directed at individual officers, but at what she described as institutional duplication and the repeated movement of the same expertise between government structures.
The committee was informed that the PCCA had initially been conceived as a mechanism for providing enhanced technical support on climate-related matters.
The discussion highlighted broader questions about the effectiveness of Pakistan’s climate governance structure, particularly the need to ensure clear institutional roles, efficient use of public resources and stronger technical capacity without unnecessary duplication.
The committee is expected to further examine the authority’s mandate, staffing structure and relationship with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination.
