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Pakistan Needs Financing to Achieve 50% Cut in Carbon Emissions by 2030

by Staff Report

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In press conference, SAPM Malik Amin Aslam claims government has already reduced its emissions by 9 percent

Pakistan hopes to achieve a 50 percent reduction in its carbon emissions by 2030, but this is only possible if Islamabad has access to international funding, such as through the Green Climate Fund, Special Assistant to the P.M. on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam announced on Thursday.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has fully supported and approved the ambitious goal of mitigating planet warming carbon emissions to address various climate change-caused disasters, including floods, heat waves, cyclones, and glacier melting, being faced by the country,” he told a press conference in Islamabad. He said the government had revised its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), a plan approved by the prime minister on climate-related targets, adding that this would be submitted to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change ahead of the upcoming Glasgow conference scheduled to start on Nov. 1.

“Pakistan is willing to grow along a climate friendly trajectory, but the world needs to now match their words with action and deliver the climate finance necessary to make this clean transition [possible],” he said of the needed financing. He said Pakistan would need $6-14 billion per annum to protect lives, livelihoods and ecosystems from the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. Noting that Pakistan was ranked 5th on Global Climate Risk Index despite contributing less than 1 percent to global emissions, he said that even though Islamabad was not responsible for the looming crisis, it was ready to help avert it.

Revealing the roadmap developed by the country to reduce the country’s carbon emissions, Aslam said a 15 percent reduction would be achieved through the country’s own resources, but international financial support was needed for another 35 percent. This could be in the form of Global Climate Fund or other U.N.-supported programs, he said, adding that the PTI’s flagship Billion Tree Tsunami program, if implemented properly, would help reduce air pollution and boost public health.

According to the SAPM, the government hoped to produce 60 percent of all energy from renewable resources by 2030, adding that 30 percent of all new vehicles sold in Pakistan would be electrically-powered by the same year. He stressed that the government would not allow any new coal power plants, adding that the preferred approach would be hydroelectric power.

Aslam summarized the programs already implemented to achieve a “clean, green Pakistan,” including the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami; Miyawaki Urban Forest Project; Clean Green Pakistan Movement; Protected Areas Initiative; National Park Initiatives and Ecosystem Restoration Initiative. These programs, he said, proved the incumbent government’s dedication to combating the climate crisis through nature-based solutions and technology-based interventions. These programs also served to increase livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable, including women and youth, he added.

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