Pakistan's missed climate opportunity

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In Pakistan, most people would likely scoff if you told them climate change wasn't a problem but an opportunity. This skepticism stems from past experiences where they've missed numerous chances to capitalise on situations arising from problems like biodiversity loss or pollution.

Instead of mitigating the social costs of pollution to save on healthcare expenses — which are nearly double — they opted to pay higher medical bills while consistently ignoring the underlying pollution issues. Consequently, they now suffer from the health impacts of pollution alongside increasing poverty levels. Few believed then, and many still don't believe now, that there's a direct link between pollution and their current predicament.

Anyone concerned about animal welfare often faces the objection that human lives are at stake, so worrying about "dumb" creatures incapable of thought or feeling is misplaced. What they fail to grasp is that fewer species mean a weaker ecosystem, less able to withstand the impact of pollution, which ultimately contributes to their poverty.

In Pakistan, a staggering 68% of the population is either unwilling to learn about climate change or completely unaware of it, beyond the discomfort of intense summer heat.

Sadly, even those who are knowledgeable about its devastating consequences often fail to reduce their own carbon footprint or adapt to its effects. Furthermore, a significant number prioritise profit, exploiting the issue to gain financially through climate change services or advocacy.

Consequently, efforts to promote climate action largely go unheard by the public, or if acknowledged through incentives, remain unimplemented. There's a lack of visible examples demonstrating that consistently addressing climate change can be a legitimate and profitable endeavour. This situation could improve if the demand for climate-smart products and services increases in Pakistan, as a larger market would create more jobs and earning opportunities.

It is a reality that outside of a small group of climate experts, academics and activists, hardly anyone realises Pakistan could be raking in over $2 billion annually just by tapping into its carbon credit potential. Think about it: as an agricultural nation, if only half our farmland embraced agroforestry, that alone could generate carbon credits worth a cool $1 billion. Then you've got our coastal areas and other huge swathes of plains that could easily bring in another billion.

But here's the frustrating part – setting up the system for carbon trading is moving at a snail's pace, and it doesn't look like it'll be ready anytime soon. The main issue is the lack of clarity. We can't just copy another country's carbon trading model wholesale because things work so differently here in this potentially very profitable sector.

The majority of our farmers, and often even the landowners, aren't educated enough to grasp how practices like regenerative agriculture can also generate carbon credits, or how bio-fodder can cut down on methane emissions from livestock – which, as we know, is a really potent greenhouse gas.

It's a real shame that even our climate-focused NGOs aren't really grasping the earning potential tied to this issue that demands global action. They're great at tree planting, but they don't know how to register a massive tree-planting drive – one aiming for hundreds of thousands of trees – to then verify their growth and ultimately claim carbon credits.

Apart from a few corporate-style NGOs run by big business figures, you don't see any other NGOs showcasing services to generate carbon credits or trade renewable energy certificates. Grassroots organisations often excuse their lack of awareness by saying they work at the local level and don't need to understand such significant earning opportunities.

They just want a few hundred thousand dollars to keep their local climate activities going. Sadly, they and many others, likely due to their narrow thinking, wouldn't even be open to the idea of generating carbon credits through a crowdfunding model, similar to retail mutual funds.

Given that our total carbon footprint is reportedly less than 1% of global greenhouse gas emissions, shouldn't we explore how to turn this into a financial advantage? The principle of carbon tax allows companies emitting below their allocated limit to generate carbon credits, which they can then sell to those exceeding their quotas. If, as our total emissions suggest, all our companies operate below their limits, couldn't we potentially sell the carbon credits generated from industrial decarbonisation on the international market?

To capitalise on this, we need to implement the carbon tax framework promptly. Achieving this requires convincing both industries and policymakers to participate transparently, ensuring our carbon credits from industrial decarbonisation are recognised fairly in global markets. Once again, limited awareness and governance challenges appear to be the primary obstacles preventing us from tapping into this significant earning potential.

Once again, we're missing out on a chance to make money simply because we lack the confidence to see problems as opportunities. Instead, we're just loudly proclaiming that Pakistan is among the top five countries most affected by climate change, hoping to secure climate finance.

Many enthusiastically support this idea, believing that if the global climate community recognises this, we'll receive our fair share of funding. However, many of these same people don't realise that only a small portion of climate finance comes as grants, while the rest will be guarantees, low-interest loans and equity investments.

It begs the question: don't respectable nations conduct business to overcome financial crises, while those constantly seeking grants and funding are... well, it's obvious what they are.