Climate resilience must travel from policy rooms to communities

Pakistan is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, ranking 8th on the Global Climate Risk Index. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, accelerated glacial melt, increasing pollution and recurring climate disasters continue to disrupt lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems. These impacts place immense pressure on natural resources and the economy, with women, youth, and marginalized groups bearing the greatest burden.

The Climate Resilience Programme (CRP) responds to this challenge by strengthening Pakistan’s capacity to adapt to and mitigate climate change through policy support, institutional strengthening, and community-led interventions. Anchored in national priorities such as the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Vision 2025, and aligned with global frameworks including the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030, CRP promotes inclusive, evidence-based climate action across key sectors.

The programme adopts a layered and circular approach: supporting national policy development while equipping communities with the skills, tools, and resources required to adapt, with grassroots learnings informing national climate strategies.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) serves as the Secretariat of the National Plastic Action Partnership (NPAP) in Pakistan, part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Plastic Action Partnership. In close collaboration with the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, UNDP is also leading cross-sectoral efforts to tackle plastic pollution and transition to a circular plastics economy under NPAP.