Rs40b Punjab Green uplift Plan launched

LAHORE:Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht has said the Environment Protection Department (EPD) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacked the structure and resources to effectively carry out several of their environmental management mandates, including environmental clearance of investment proposals and inspection of industries for environmental compliance.

The Punjab government with the support of World Bank has launched a Rs40 billion Punjab Green Development Programme (PGDP) to enhance the capacity. A more active inspection regime will increase the pressure on the industries creating pollution to comply with environmental standards and invest in cleaner technologies, the minister observed in a meeting with the World Bank officials.

Currently the EPA Punjab has only six air quality monitoring stations and no water quality monitoring stations. The EPA is unable to collect sufficient amount of pollution data to give meaningful estimates on the evaluation of environmental quality in Punjab. Under the programme, 30 air quality monitoring stations and 15 water quality monitoring stations will be purchased, besides setting up a state-of-the-art environmental monitoring centre (reference laboratory). The minister said the objective of the programme was to support provincial government’s efforts to strengthen environmental governance and mainstream green growth in the province. It aims at strengthening environmental governance in the province and promoting green investments in the province.

The activities under the first results area are aimed at restructuring and capacity building of Environment Protection Department, reforming environmental regulatory regime and delivering transparent and efficient environmental management services to private and public sectors. Activities under the second results area are aimed at promoting green investments in both public and private sectors. The Green Financing includes investments in infrastructure, processes and practices to contribute substantially to an improved environment as compared to traditional investments.

Furthermore, eight disbursement linked indicators of the programme are fixed which include improving EPD capacity, air and water quality monitoring, disclosure of environmental information and citizen engagement, sound management of plastics, energy-efficiency investments in public institutions, vehicle compliance with emission standards, green investments by the polluting industries and mobilisation of sustainable green financing.

The minister said collective efforts would be made for the implementation of the programme while EPD, energy, finance and transport departments would jointly implement it.

Hashim Jawan Bakht said an environment endowment fund would be established to finance the environment-friendly projects. For recognising the importance of long-term financing for green investments, the PGDP will also support the development of a green financing strategy in the province.