Need to mobilise multiple green finance options stressed

Islamabad : Romina Khursheed Alam, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Convener, Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs, said that though the COVID-19 emerged as an unprecedented challenge for the international community, it opened a window of opportunity for green recovery and green financing besides realigning the commitment to Sustainable Development Goals.

Ms Romina was speaking at a workshop on “Implementation of green financing mechanisms in Pakistan: A case of green financing tools and SBP’s green banking guidelines” organised here by Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

Ms Romina said that Pakistan’s progress towards clean energy transition is relatively slow, especially in the context of unsustainable high fuel import prices.

She called upon the think tanks to provide research support to parliamentarians so that the latter might take up informed deliberations and debates to positively influence the policy-making process.

Dr Murtaza Syed, the Acting Governor of State Bank of Pakistan, said that the central bank is actively trying to explore international financing opportunities like Sustainable Banking and Finance Network and Network for Green Financing System. At the domestic level, he added, SBP is promoting green financing by providing financing guidelines and regulatory frameworks. Moreover, SBP is also providing technical assistance and capacity building facilities to commercial banks, he said, adding that the SBP issued a clean energy financing scheme in 2019 which financed 1,500 projects with the capacity of 50 MW power generation and the validity of this scheme has been extended till 2024.

Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI, said that in the midst of the economic meltdown, green financing is a viable mid to long-term investment opportunity to support economic growth in the country.