LAHORE, June 3, 2025: The National Rural Support Program (NRSP) has cut ties with Sarmayacar as a prospective fund manager for Climaventures – a $40 million climate fund and $10 million venture accelerator backed by the UN’s Green Climate Fund (GCF).
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The decision followed an unexpected final due diligence review during the pre-implementation phase, which Sarmayacar claims it was not adequately prepared for. According to NRSP, the review triggered GCF’s “zero tolerance” policy, prompting Sarmayacar’s removal. Details of the third-party assessment remain undisclosed.
The development leaves the fund manager role vacant at a critical juncture. NRSP must now identify a new partner before the extended September 2025 deadline to sign the Funded Activity Agreement (FAA) – a six-month reprieve from GCF after a missed March deadline.
An NRSP official speaking to media said, “This has been a setback”. He also spoke on the challenges of finding climate-focused fund managers with a deep understanding of the Pakistani market.
Sarmayacar’s founder, Rabeel Warraich, expressed concern over the process, stating that the firm was required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement ahead of the review, limiting its ability to respond or engage directly with GCF.
He also shared that NRSP and GCF had already conducted a thorough due diligence process, which led to Sarmayacar being selected as the Executing Entity for the Climaventures project by both NRSP’s board and GCF. About this, the NRSP has said that the first due diligence was carried out in a hurry, which had resulted in Sarmayacar’s selection.
The tussle between NRSP and Samrayacar reportedly took roots when Sarmayacar launched a PR campaign which put them in the central position, instead of NRSP. The latter terms those campaigns as premature and misleading, adding that Sarmayacar had also been warned against carrying out such publicity campaigns.
NRSP said that the statements in these campaigns incorrectly attributed funding commitments directly to Sarmayacar, which should not have happened at least until Sarmayacar was officially declared as a partner.
Some evidence of this can be found from a press release by Sarmayacar that labeled Climaventures as their “Brainchild”. There are also reports that these campaigns were paid instead of organic coverage by the media.
Despite the fallout, Sarmayacar plans to continue prioritizing climate and sustainability in its future initiatives.
BACKGROUND OF THE PARTNERSHIP
In October 2024, Sarmayacar unveiled the Climaventures Fund.
The Green Climate Fund, based in South Korea, had invested $15 million in the Climaventures Fund, which began operations with the target of raising $40 million for ‘lowering greenhouse gas emissions and preparing Pakistan for the effects of climate change’.
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This fund had emerged as Pakistan’s first enterprise solely focused on combating climate change, and came as a direct response to the nation’s growing climate-related challenges.
