Prime Minister Imran Khan was chosen amongst the top 10 global leaders to show case climate action at the high level “Climate Action Summit” hosted by the UK Government which is currently the chair of the global climate negotiations process.
The Prime Minister in his statement to the global community re-iterated Pakistan’s strong and unwavering commitment to enhanced climate action, even thought it is a country which contributes less than 1% of global emissions but remains the 5th most vulnerable country to climate impacts.
He focused on two main climate actions being taken by Pakistan which included firstly the focus on nature based solutions as a prime climate mitigation tool. This is evidenced, on ground, through the ongoing “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” project which is aimed at restoring over 1 million ha of forest area and the “Protected Areas Initiative” which is significantly increasing the protected areas in Pakistan by increasing the number of National Parks from 30 to 45.
Secondly, Pakistan stepped up its climate action ambition in the energy sector by boldly announcing a shift away from dirty coal as the Prime Minister clearly announced no new coal projects.
As proof of Government commitment he mentioned the shelving of two imported coal projects, Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan, amounting to 2600 MW which have recently been replaced with 3700 MW of new Hydro projects. The much cleaner option of coal gasification/liquefaction will be utilized for all indigenous coal, he stated.
Also linked with this is Pakistan’s commitment to shift 60% of its energy mix towards clean and zero-carbon energy by 2030, comprising wind, hydro and solar.
Finally, the county is also poised to target a switch of 30% new vehicles towards electric vehicles by 2030. With these landmark announcements, backed by actual activity on the ground the Prime Minister’s bold climate action statement has been strongly hailed at the meeting of global leaders.
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