ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan was chosen amongst the top 10 global leaders to showcase climate action at the high level “Climate Action Summit” hosted by the UK Government, which is currently the chair of the global climate negotiations process.
Participating in the Climate Ambition Summit virtually, Imran Khan said that Pakistan is the country whose contribution to global emissions is less than 1 percent. “Yet and sadly, we are the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change,” he said.
He focused on two main climate actions being taken by Pakistan which included firstly the focus on nature based solutions as a prime climate mitigation tool. This is evidenced, on ground, through the ongoing “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” project.
Secondly, Pakistan stepped up its climate action ambition in the energy sector by boldly announcing a shift away from dirty coal as the prime minister clearly announced no new coal projects. As proof of government commitment he mentioned the shelving of two imported coal projects, Muzaffargarh and Rahim Yar Khan, amounting to 2,600MW which have recently been replaced with 3,700MW new hydro projects.
Also linked with this is Pakistan’s commitment to shift 60 percent of its energy mix towards clean and zero-carbon energy by 2030, comprising wind, hydro and solar. Finally, the county is also poised to target a switch of 30 percent new vehicles towards electric vehicles by 2030. With these landmark announcements, backed by actual activity on the ground the prime minister’s bold climate action statement has been strongly hailed at the meeting of global leaders.
Co-hosted by the UK, France, and the United Nations, and held in partnership with Chile and Italy, the Climate Ambition Summit represents a vital step on the road to next year’s COP26, providing an opportunity for countries to set an agenda for next year.
