PESHAWAR: Transparency International Pakistan has organized a capacity building training for government officials on climate sensitive budgeting and climate finance transparency.
According to a press release issued here on Wednesday, the workshop aimed to increase the capacity of climate-related departments in understanding climate finance, planning processes and integrating transparency and providing climate finance monitoring tools.
Senior officers from around 25 departments including Climate Change, Forest and Wildlife, Irrigation, Planning and Development, Livestock, Agriculture, Energy, Finance, Urban Development Department and Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) and agencies attended the training for Environmental Protection (EPA).
Climate change and climate finance experts, Azmat Shahi and Dawar Hameed Butt discussed climate finance frameworks, tools for tracking, monitoring and evaluating climate finance, climate-sensitive budgeting, global best practices for climate finance integrity and transparency, and incorporation of these procedures. to the provincial public finance management system.
Experts discussed that building the capacity of government ministries is essential to accessing international climate finance and maintaining its transparency.
The session also promoted awareness about the scoring checklist developed by TI Pakistan. The scoring checklist focuses on incorporating climate-sensitive metrics into planning, budgeting and implementation processes.
It was also discussed that audit institutions such as the Accountant General of Pakistan and anti-corruption agencies also need climate change expertise. This expertise would ensure that audits take into account not only financial aspects but also environmental and climate factors such as environmental impact assessment and carbon reduction efforts.
Saba Ali Asghar, Senior Director of Environment and Climate Change, informed the participants that the government’s approach is in the process of approving the Climate Change Policy 2024.
Justice (R) Ather Saeed, TI Pakistan Board of Trustees welcomed the participants and said, “Judiciary has played an important role in efforts to address the impacts of climate change.”
“There is a need for strong environmental courts at the local level to enforce environmental issues,” he added. Kashif Ali, Executive Director of Transparency International Pakistan, spoke on climate procurement transparency.
