Institutionalising Climate Adaptation in Pakistan 

Across rural Pakistan, climate adaptation is already taking shape. Through the Livelihood Support and Promotion of Small Community Infrastructure Programme (LACIP), implemented by the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) and its partner organisations, residents, local authorities and civil society organisations have developed 98 Village Development Plans. Furthermore, 45 climate adaptation projects have improved irrigation, drainage, and safe drinking water systems, benefiting around 136,000 people. 

Yet these measures are still often implemented as stand-alone interventions rather than as part of a consistent climate approach across PPAF’s programmes. 

PPAF and its partners discussing innovative climate adaptation measures at the Green Village at Delft University of Technology.

For PPAF, the next step is to make climate adaptation a standard part of programme design, budgeting, infrastructure, and community engagement. This is especially important in Pakistan, where recurring floods, droughts, heatwaves and water shortages affect rural communities every year. To strategically incorporating climate mitigation and adaptation, a delegation of PPAF and two of its partner organisations, Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP), and SABAWON (Social Action Bureau for Assistance in Welfare and Organizational Networking), followed The Hague Academy’s Local Climate Response training in The Netherlands.

“Due to repeated floods, we realised that we need a much stronger understanding of climate response across all our teams and partner organisations. The training showed us that climate adaptation cannot be treated as a separate issue from, for example, infrastructure.” — Asadullah Saleem, Specialist Infrastructure Development, PPAF

From individual projects to a common approach

PPAF and its partners identified that climate considerations are not yet applied consistently across programmes. Infrastructure, livelihoods, poverty alleviation and capacity development are often planned separately, even though climate risks affect all of them.

Communities may experience water shortages, crop losses, or damaged infrastructure as separate problems, even when they are linked to the same climate risks. At the same time, national and district governments focus on policy rather than on local implementation.

During the Local Climate Response course, participants from PPAF and two partner organisations worked on climate adaptation planning, gender and vulnerability assessments, climate finance and disaster risk management, among others. The focus was on how these approaches can further strengthen existing rural development programmes and support their mandate of poverty alleviation.

At The Green Village at Delft University of Technology, participants saw how researchers, businesses and public institutions test climate solutions together before they are applied at a larger scale. Since the visit, PPAF has already initiated collaboration between the Green Village team and PPAF engineers to learn more about certain innovations the Green Village is testing. During a walking tour of Rotterdam, the delegation saw that water governance is an integral part of urban planning and infrastructure projects in the city.

“Given Pakistan’s fragile climate situation and its intersecting social and economic challenges, this course will help us better coordinate climate adaptation and mitigation measures and respond to the needs of rural communities exposed to climate shocks.” — Muhammad Ashraf, Livelihood Expert, PPAF

Climate mainstreaming requires cooperation

Making climate adaptation systematic part of projects and programmes requires people across organisations to work differently. Aside from all the other roles they have to play, climate specialists need to work with colleagues responsible for infrastructure, livelihoods and finance. Partner organisations need practical skills to assess climate risks. Governments need to provide reliable data, while communities need meaningful opportunities to identify priorities and share local knowledge. Management support is essential to make this approach part of everyday programme design. Ultimately, a more systemic approach requires skills, willingness, and collaboration between all stakeholders.

During their action planning, participants identified several barriers: gaps in reliable local data, limited access to climate finance, and difficulties coordinating with public institutions. They also stressed the importance of involving communities directly. Combining local knowledge with technical expertise can improve both early warning and the design of adaptation measures that communities are more likely to maintain. Within their own organisation, they also stressed the need to build further capacities to better implement their programmes with climate action in mind and to bring all stakeholders on board in this cultural shift.

“We will now revisit our ongoing and upcoming investments to identify where climate adaptation can be integrated more systematically. The training also gave us practical tools to work with our teams and partner organisations so that climate considerations become part of how we design and implement programmes.” — Asadullah Saleem, Specialist Infrastructure Development, PPAF

Are you also looking to implement climate mitigation and adaptation strategies into your programmes and projects? Learn more about our upcoming Local Climate Responsecourse.