By Abdul Ghani

A $10 million Youth Climate Action Grants project has been proposed to provide more than 1,000 green micro-grants and strengthen the climate-action capacity of 5,000 university students in Pakistan.

According to a document available with Wealth Pakistan, the proposed initiative will combine financial support for youth-led climate projects with technical mentorship, climate leadership training and the establishment of a Digital Youth Climate Portal.

The Environment Protection and Climate Change Department (EPCCD), Punjab, has been identified as the lead agency for the project, which is currently at the conceptual stage.

The proposed programme envisages supporting young people in developing and implementing practical climate initiatives through more than 1,000 green micro-grants.

It also aims to build the capacity of 5,000 university students, with university networks and climate change clubs identified as potential implementation hubs.

Activities envisaged under the programme include nature-based solutions, rainwater harvesting, community composting, urban greening and water conservation.

Technical mentorship and climate leadership training are also included among the proposed activities, while the Digital Youth Climate Portal is intended to provide an online platform supporting youth participation in climate action.

The document also envisages partnerships with more than 50 entities, although the portion of the project document available does not provide complete details of these partnerships.

The project has a proposed budget of $10 million. However, no detailed implementation schedule, milestones or completion timeline has yet been specified.

Detailed responsibilities of partner organisations have also not been defined in the available document, although university networks and climate change clubs have been identified as implementation hubs.

The proposed initiative forms part of a broader set of climate-related projects being processed under the World Bank Country Partnership Framework for Pakistan for FY2026 to FY2035.

If taken forward, the programme would create a structured mechanism for providing young people with financial support, training and technical mentorship to undertake climate-related projects at university and community levels.

Credit: INP-WealthPk