Explainer: Climate finance is available, but how do countries access it?

Pakistan’s catastrophic 2022 floods helped turn climate finance from a diplomatic demand into a global commitment. Monsoon rains combined with glacial melt, damaging roughly two million homes and affecting 33 million people. Nearly 8 million people were reportedly displaced.

The World Bank’s post-disaster needs assessment put total damage at close to $15 billion, while reconstruction needs exceeded $16 billion. At COP27, Climate Minister Sherry Rehman used the scale of the disaster to help secure agreement on the Loss and Damage Fund. Pakistan became, in the eyes of many summit reporters, a symbol of climate justice.

Three years later, the fund exists, but Pakistan’s problem has not disappeared. The country still needs very large amounts of climate financing, and the scale of the challenge extends beyond rebuilding after one flood.

The World Bank estimates that a comprehensive response to Pakistan’s climate and development challenges between 2023 and 2030 will cost around $348 billion. Of that amount, $152 billion is earmarked for adaptation. The central question is no longer only whether wealthy countries acknowledge climate-related losses, but how the money can reach countries facing the greatest needs.