‘Proper financing vital for just energy transition’

Expert says developing nations questioning efficacy of IFTs

ISLAMABAD:

Developing countries and China need to establish unity for working out indigenous solutions as just energy transition without proper finances was elusive.

These remarks were made by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri on Sunday while attending various sideline events at the COP-28. Suleri added that the G-77 plus China countries should revive the same spirit as was demonstrated at the previous COP-27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

Dr Suleri noted that it should be floated as a proposal for the next or the other successive COP meeting to achieve tangible results. “This requires some sort of financing that I call DAI (Data, Action and Investment). So, when we have investment then we require data to understand investment prospects and action again not only by the development partners but also by the recipient country and the people working on it, he added.

The SDPI Head hoped that the COP-28 would come up with some kind of oil and gas initiatives and climate funds of its own helping in transition as just energy transition to clean energy is important.

“This is something we should add from developing countries to our composite and transitory phase finance and it is being called transit finance by civil society.”

He added that the climate finance, Loss and Damage Fund and Transit Finance can work for the developing world that SDPI is advocating for these countries.

“We have more than one economic giant and a majority of them today are not part of the global financial institutions as per proportion to their GDP and economic might. There is a push from countries like China to IMF, WB, ADB and economic chains for a bigger role,” he added.

Read: Call for cleaner energy transition

Dr Suleri further elaborated that the global decarbonisation initiative was being signed by the countries at COP-28 that was basically about carbon removal through capture and sequestration measures that were brought under discussion under this initiative.

“If business as usual continues amid carbon removal then it can be further promoted whereas nuclear technology is being discussed as a potential source of it,” he added. Secondly, the negotiation is on the Adaptation Fund where developing countries are demanding an increase in it.

The third focus of the agenda is GST which indicates that the world is lagging behind its required target that indicates to review fossil fuel consumption and the discussion is stuck on phase out of petroleum.

Dr Suleri added that the next agenda much-debated point is on climate financing that is having a new dimension where developing countries are questioning the efficacy of global financial institutions in addressing the climate change demands of the IMF, World Bank and others.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2023.