WWF-Pakistan brought global attention to its flagship initiative, Recharge Pakistan, at COP30, making a broader call for accelerated investment in Nature-based Solutions (NbS) as a strategic, economically sound pathway for climate resilience in Pakistan and beyond. High-level exchanges between officials from the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), and experts and leaders from WWF and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) underscored Pakistan’s rising leadership in nature-based climate adaptation and the growing alignment between government, global climate funds, civil society, and the private sector.

 

Recharge Pakistan is being increasingly recognised as a model for countries seeking cost-effective, evidence-based, and community-centered pathways to climate resilience. Funded by the GCF, The Coca-Cola Foundation (TCCF), and WWF, Recharge Pakistan is one of the country’s largest nature-based adaptation efforts, designed to restore degraded ecosystems, rehabilitate natural water channels, and strengthen community-led climate-smart practices across vulnerable districts in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh. NbS offers economic returns on climate investment, reducing future losses while creating long-term resilience. Delivering them at scale, however, depends on sustained collaboration between multiple actors, including government, global climate finance, civil society, and communities.

 

Opening the discussion on national direction and political will, Aisha Moriani, Secretary, Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, stated that: “While national initiatives set the direction, true transformation happens when NbS take root across provinces. It is encouraging to see strong political commitment from provinces, with the Chief Minister of Punjab participating at COP30, reaffirming Pakistan’s collective resolve towards climate resilience.”

 

Building on the economic dimension of adaptation, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Global Lead, Climate and Energy, WWF International, highlighted that “Recharge Pakistan is not just an environmental initiative; it’s an economic one. By grounding decisions in data and evidence it demonstrates how NbS can simultaneously protect people, nature, and national economies.”

 

Emphasizing the systems-level shift needed for durable climate action, Muhammad Fawad Hayat, Senior Director, Recharge Pakistan added, “Large-scale NbS is not just about finance. It is about governance, capacity, and long-term partnerships. When public institutions, climate funds, and the private sector align behind community priorities, we create the systems that make adaptation durable, scalable, and truly people-centered.”

 

Speaking at the Pakistan Pavilion on the importance of global climate governance and financing, Alexandra Stephenson, Officer for Multilateral Governance, GCF, remarked that: “Recharge Pakistan is one of GCF’s signature projects; an example of how innovative financing and strong governance can come together in a bottom-up, country-led way. With our shift to regionally focused governance, we are now able to support projects like this from first contact through completion. But to truly unlock large-scale adaptation, countries need strengthened capacity and greater access to available finance.”

 

From the private-sector and blended-finance perspective, Marcene Mitchell, Senior Vice President for Climate Change at WWF-US, added: “Recharge Pakistan shows what becomes possible when a country has a clear vision and credible plans. That clarity helped WWF mobilize private-sector financing and bring new partners to the table. When countries signal commitment, investors recognize readiness and are far more willing to step in.”

 

Earlier in the week at COP30, WWF-Pakistan also presented preliminary findings from an upcoming Cost of Inaction report; an early economic analysis showing how proposed NbS interventions could reduce future flood losses across the Indus Basin. These insights and discussions reinforced a central message at COP: investing in NbS today is far more cost-effective than absorbing the escalating human and economic losses of inaction.