The government’s top aide on climate change on Monday said that they have replaced coal-fired power plants with hydro-powered plants of greater capacity in a shift towards clean energy.
This was disclosed by the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on Monday while addressing a special talk on "Achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action".
"The mega coal-fired power plants of 2,700 megawatts (MW), to be established in Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan, have been shelved under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and replaced with 3,700MW hydropower projects, which are emission-free safe projects,” Aslam said, adding that the country’s first electric vehicle policy has also been approved with market incentives on the ground.
He added that the premier’s clean and green vision had helped the country successfully achieve sustainable development goal-13 (SDG-13) of Climate Action ahead of its 2030 deadline. The adviser added that as the world struggles with climate change and the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, it has achieved the SDG-13.
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The adviser said Pakistan's major shift towards clean energy and forestry had supported its bid to achieve the goal.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has made the world realise that we are all interconnected where the existence of one without the other was difficult, as the loss of ecosystems and wildlife will result in such contagions affecting mankind,” he added.
Aslam said that the recent Sustainable Development Report 2020, had placed Pakistan at 134 out of 166 countries, where its Sustainable Development Index score was 56.2.
At the regional level, the score was 67.2. He mentioned that the SDG-13 performance as per the Sustainable Development Report 2020 was not improving, rather complimenting other indicators of different SDGs, ensuring they headed in a positive direction.
"Karachi Zero Emission Metro Bus project, Smart Agriculture project, and glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF-II) programme to mitigate the risk of glacial inundation through the Global Climate Fund (GCF) financing have been placed on the ground in just two years which are responsible for achieving the target of SDG-13," he said.
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He added that the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government had implemented the Billion Tree Tsunami project (BTT) which had helped revived depleting forest cover from 20 to 26 per cent where the global organizations IUCN, FAO, WWF, Bonn Challenge and others had endorsed this development in their reports.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Resident Representative Aliona Niculita congratulated Pakistan for achieving SDG-13 Climate Action.
"It's encouraging to see Pakistan achieve SGD-13 in hard and challenging circumstances,” the UNDP official said, adding, “Pakistan is an example of an established SDG framework that is formed and owned by the government.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2020.
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