Corporates blamed for climate crisis

Climate change minister urges corporates to help steer country out of crisis

KARACHI:

Big businesses are responsible for global warming and now is the time for them to vtake lead in steering the nation out of this crisis, said Federal Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman.

Speaking at the sixth edition of “The Future Summit”, organised by the Nutshell Group, the minister said over the past 100 years, the big companies, many of which were bigger than the states, were the source of around 71% of global warming. “That’s the case here (in Pakistan) too,” she said.

“It is not the governments that have led to climate toxicity, it’s the businesses,” she remarked.

Businesses have to take the lead because they are the ones who contribute a lot to climate change in the shape of producing tons of plastic and other forms of pollution nationwide, she stressed.

“I am not abdicating responsibility at all, I am taking full responsibility, but climate change adaptation is not done in a vacuum, we cannot adapt to the strategies in Islamabad in a small or big office. It is done in people’s hearts, at homes, businesses, schools and communities,” she underscored.

Every company is generating huge waste. They are not processing the waste. And they are not building recycling protocols in a big business, which is the case everywhere in the world.

Only 25% of businesses are reporting compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but there is a huge gap.

The minister announced that regulations would be rolled out soon for the extended use of plastics and declared a war against plastic vendors to force them to disclose their production data.

She emphasised that Pakistan and its economy may no longer move forward without addressing the climate issues, as ignorance would backfire. “The country needs a huge amount of $348 billion to fight climate change till 2030,” Rehman pointed out.

“For Pakistan and other resilient countries, 2030 is the decisive year. You have got to take all your actions before that because by then you will have such a scale of accelerated climate events that the economy, businesses, homes and especially the vulnerable communities … no one will be safe.”

K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi said KE, Karachi’s sole power vendor, had applied for the renewal of its distribution licence, as its 20-year monopoly of exclusively selling electricity in the city of ports would come to an end in June 2023.

“K-Electric has filed for the renewal of its licence on a ‘non-exclusivity’ basis,” Alvi announced while speaking at The Future Summit. “The power utility has filed for the licence renewal, but the company has not sought exclusivity.”

KE’s application for a non-exclusive distribution licence means that other companies may be awarded licences to distribute electricity in Karachi.

Alvi said people thought that the company was enjoying exclusivity, “let me tell you, we are not enjoying.”

As part of the KE’s plan submitted for regulatory approval, the company plans to incorporate renewables up to 30% of its fuel mix by 2030 to meet Karachi’s expected total demand for 5 gigawatts.

“The company has recently signed an MoU with China Three Gorges, a Chinese power company, whose focus is on investing in renewable energy,” Alvi said.

“Imagine, we will be able to import hydel energy through wheeling … bringing down the cost of power for our diverse set of customers,” he added.

“The (latest) increase in tariff is not a solution, it is a band-aid solution. When the tariff increases, it hurts recovery, losses increase and then again there is a fiscal gap that is added to the overall circular debt.

“As a private company, we don’t add to the circular debt. In fact, the losses we are incurring will be borne by us, our investors and through borrowing, whose costs have risen.”

Addressing the summit, HBL President and CEO Muhammad Aurangzeb said the World Bank forecast that Pakistan’s economy would swell to $3 trillion by 2047 from the current value of $300 billion. “Pakistan needs consistency in policies to achieve economic growth in future.”

Stressing the need for connectivity for all, Jazz President and CEO Aamir Ibrahim emphasised that Pakistan needed to focus on 4G rather than 5G for now. “5G is highly costly and may benefit only 1% of population.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 16^th, 2023.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.