Marriyum Aurangzeb, Senior Minster, Government of Punjab

A seasoned PML-N politician and Senior Provincial Minister, Maryam Aurangzeb has transformed from an nformation minister into one of Punjab’s most prominent climate advocates. Overseeing the province’s environment and climate change portfolio, she has driven an ambitious shift in how Punjab confronts its deepening ecological crisis.

Under her stewardship, Punjab allocated dedicated funds for smog mitigation at a scale previously unseen at the provincial level, while pushing the Annual Development Programme for the Environmental Protection Agency to completion ahead of schedule for the first time in history. She has championed a move away from crisis-driven responses toward structured, long-term environmental governance.

Beyond domestic policy, Aurangzeb has pursued what she calls climate diplomacy, advocating dialogue with Indian Punjab on the transboundary smog that chokes both sides of the border each winter. She has engaged foreign delegations from the United Kingdom and the United States on green technology partnerships, framing Punjab’s environmental ambitions within a wider regional and global context. In a country disproportionately ravaged by climate change it did little to cause, Maryam Aurangzeb has become an increasingly consequential voice in the fight for a liveable future.