Green economy: Prioritise climate change before it is too late

We won’t live long if we continue with this kind of growth: Dr Banuri.

ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a conference stressed the need for immediate attention to the issue of climate change. Through taxes, subsidies and other measures undertaken by a “development state”, Pakistan can achieve the 6 to 8 per cent sustained growth that it needs to “win the race of development” without destroying the environment.

This was stated by Dr Tariq Banuri, director of the United Nation’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the Division for Sustainable Development.

He was speaking at the conference marking the 40th anniversary of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) at a local hotel on Monday.

Pakistan must confront the development challenge by getting ahead of the curve and riding the wave of the upcoming Green Economy Initiative (GEI), he urged.

Dr Banuri noted that a number of Pakistan’s neighbours are already putting the GEI at the centre of policy planning, including China and India, and urged that Pakistan should not be left behind in eradicating poverty through green economic growth. “We cannot live without growth and we won’t live long if we continue with this kind of growth”, said Dr Banuri, referring to the environmental catastrophe that awaits the world if carbon emissions are not dramatically reduced.

Highlighting the fundamental contradiction between growth and environmental protection, Dr Banuri singled out energy as a key issue for Pakistan’s future: “No matter what we do, development needs more energy. We will have to multiply our energy access by a factor of maybe five, three or four.”

However, while pointing out the looming environmental catastrophe linked to Pakistan and the world’s fossil fuel dependence, Dr Banuri noted that thanks to Chinese production, renewable energy costs are sharply reducing: “In 2005, solar power cost $5 per watt to harvest; now it’s $1.20.

If it comes down to 40 cents then we’re in business.”

Dr Banuri recommended policy makers to invest in the development state, as this could eradicate poverty by seizing the opportunity to foster sustainable development through the upcoming GEI wave. “Governance is very important,” he said. He urged the need to take stock of three crucial challenges faced by developing countries; environment, inequality and food security.

Nadeem Ul-Haq, deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan noted the youthful demographics of Pakistan and the failure of the state in achieving inclusive development for this segment of society.

He explained that the paradigm of land reform must be reconsidered as it is crucial to development in Pakistan. Land ownership has become fragmented in most of the country, he said, and new solutions must be sought in confronting the changed paradigm.

The lecture was introduced by Dr Abid Q. Suleri, executive director SDPI.

Dr Stephen McGurk, regional director of the International Development Research Centre, Regional Office for South Asia and China in Delhi also spoke.

During the introduction, Dr McGurk traced the work of Canada’s overseas development assistance programme in supporting and relying on scientists and researchers from the developing world to forge the link between development research and development policy.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2010.