{"id":7004,"date":"2025-07-29T18:51:19","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/?p=7004"},"modified":"2025-07-29T18:51:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T18:51:44","slug":"ministry-eyes-downsizing-epa-iwmb-and-zsp-set-for-shutdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/07\/29\/ministry-eyes-downsizing-epa-iwmb-and-zsp-set-for-shutdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Ministry Eyes Downsizing: EPA, IWMB, and ZSP Set for Shutdown"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pakistan Eyes Closure of Pak-EPA, Wildlife Agencies, and Climate Bodies in Confidential Draft Proposal to Downsize Staff and Centralize Environmental Oversight<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nadeem Tanoli<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Islamabad:\u00a0<\/strong>A confidential draft proposal from the Ministry of Climate Change reveals an unprecedented plan to restructure Pakistan\u2019s environmental governance system, aiming to shut down several attached bodies\u2014including the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), the Zoological Survey of Pakistan (ZSP), and potentially the Pakistan Climate Change Authority (PCCA). The internal presentation, still under review, outlines a sweeping reform that seeks to cut government size, eliminate duplicated functions, and reorient the Ministry\u2019s focus toward climate finance and international diplomacy. The proposal falls under a broader \u201crightsizing\u201d directive led by the Prime Minister, which targets over 65 public sector organizations for potential closure or merger.<\/p>\n

According to the draft, the Pakistan Climate Change Authority\u2014established just last year to coordinate policy and global climate funding\u2014is recommended for full merger into the Ministry. While its original purpose was to spearhead national climate strategies, adaptation plans, and reporting to international forums, the Ministry now argues that Pakistan\u2019s role as a negligible emitter does not justify a separate authority. Instead, the Climate Ministry proposes hiring a small but highly skilled team of roughly 10 professionals to manage global negotiations, climate storytelling, and funding proposals. The rest of the PCCA\u2019s staff would be dismissed, with redundant posts abolished by the end of November. The Ministry warns that regulatory expansion may raise the cost of energy and compliance, hurting Pakistan\u2019s economy without delivering measurable climate gains.<\/p>\n

The proposal also calls for the closure of the Zoological Survey of Pakistan, long criticized for minimal output despite managing key responsibilities like endangered species surveys and research on wildlife populations. The Ministry suggests outsourcing survey responsibilities to the Pakistan Wildlife Foundation, which would charge provincial governments for services. It further recommends that the 725-acre botanical garden land under ZSP be transferred to the Planning Ministry and offered to a world-class firm under a public-private partnership (PPP), with the goal of developing it into an eco-tourism hub while preserving its ecological integrity. Staff currently working at the ZSP would be released, with all remaining functions folded into a reduced core structure within the Ministry.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board, responsible for conservation in the Margalla Hills and oversight of zoo reforms in the capital, is slated for closure. While the Board has played a visible role in rescuing abused animals and enforcing legal protections, the Ministry now deems a separate wildlife board unnecessary. Its proposal suggests that Margalla Hills be handed over to the Planning Ministry and developed under PPP arrangements into a sustainable tourism model that generates revenue while maintaining environmental protections. Wildlife care functions would be shifted to the Pakistan Wildlife Foundation, and any residual regulatory tasks brought under direct Ministry control. Posts associated with IWMB would be abolished by year-end as part of the broader rightsizing effort.<\/p>\n

One of the most significant and politically sensitive elements of the draft is the proposed abolition of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency. Despite having a broad legal mandate to enforce environmental laws, oversee impact assessments, monitor pollution, and issue licenses, the agency has been described in the draft as ineffective, overly bureaucratic, and largely symbolic. Officials criticize its inability to enforce regulations even in Islamabad, where plastic bag bans, garbage burning, and toxic emissions continue unchecked. Businesses, meanwhile, have complained about procedural delays and enforcement actions that lack consistency. The Ministry recommends absorbing only the core regulatory and biosafety functions into its own framework and transferring three to four technical experts. All other Pak-EPA staff would be moved to the federal surplus pool or dismissed, with the agency formally abolished by November 30.<\/p>\n

The Global Change Impact Studies Centre, a research body currently operating under the Ministry, is also under scrutiny. Though the Centre has provided climate modeling and training programs, the draft suggests transferring it to an academic institution such as QAU or NUST. If no university is interested, the Centre would be shut down, and essential research could instead be outsourced via targeted grants. The goal, according to the draft, is to move scientific work into spaces with stronger research cultures, freeing the Ministry to concentrate on securing global resources and implementing high-level strategy.<\/p>\n

The draft also questions the role of the Pakistan Climate Change Council, a statutory body chaired by the Prime Minister. Though legally mandated to guide national climate planning and oversee the implementation of the Climate Change Act, the Council\u2019s operations, budget, staffing, and actual influence are unclear. The Ministry is reportedly considering whether the Council adds any real value or whether it exists only nominally, with few meetings and limited outputs. It has recommended a review to determine whether the Council should continue or be dissolved in the next phase of restructuring.<\/p>\n

While calling for downsizing and institutional closure, the draft also includes a vision for strengthening the Ministry\u2019s core function. It stresses the need for the Ministry to focus on \u201ctransmitting Pakistan\u2019s climate story\u201d\u2014emphasizing the country\u2019s extreme vulnerability to climate change despite its negligible contribution to global emissions. This narrative is seen as essential to attracting financial and technical support from global climate funds and donors. The Ministry has explicitly cautioned against embracing costly renewable energy transitions that may raise domestic energy prices, advocating instead for pragmatic solutions such as clean coal, nature-based adaptation, and selective renewable deployment tailored to Pakistan\u2019s economic conditions.<\/p>\n

The restructuring proposal highlights the duplicative nature of environmental functions across federal and provincial bodies, made more complex by the 18th Amendment. Provincial departments in Punjab, Sindh, KP, Balochistan, and other regions already manage climate policies and enforcement, raising questions about the need for parallel federal structures. Drawing comparisons with countries like the United States, Germany, and India, the Ministry is advocating for a more coordinated but decentralized model\u2014where provinces lead on implementation, while the federal government handles high-level negotiations, international compliance, and climate finance acquisition.<\/p>\n

In total, the Ministry\u2019s reform plan would reduce the number of attached bodies under its control, eliminate overlapping responsibilities, and restructure staffing by abolishing redundant posts and shifting to a performance-based, expert-driven framework. The proposal is still in draft form and subject to internal review, inter-ministerial consultations, and possibly cabinet-level deliberation. But if approved, it would mark one of the most radical shake-ups in Pakistan\u2019s environmental bureaucracy, signaling a shift from institutional sprawl to targeted, results-focused governance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pakistan Eyes Closure of Pak-EPA, Wildlife Agencies, and Climate Bodies in Confidential Draft Proposal to Downsize Staff and Centralize Environmental Oversight Nadeem Tanoli Islamabad:\u00a0A confidential draft proposal from the Ministry of Climate Change reveals an unprecedented plan to restructure Pakistan\u2019s environmental governance system, aiming to shut down several attached bodies\u2014including the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":7005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[1868,1862,1863,1866,1864,1861,1865,1742,1869,1867],"class_list":["post-7004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-climatefinancepakistan","tag-climatereformpakistan","tag-environmentaldownsizing","tag-greengovernance","tag-moccproposal","tag-pakepaclosure","tag-pakistanclimatepolicy","tag-publicsectorreform","tag-sustainabledevelopmentpk","tag-wildlifeboardclosure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7004"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7007,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7004\/revisions\/7007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}