ISLAMABAD-Experts at a conference on Wednesday were of the view that China has emerged as a global leader in renewables and green development, and thus its policy model in this regard can open up vistas of investment in renewable energy in Pakistan.
The conference titled, “The need to switch towards a greener future: Lessons from China”, was jointly organized by Pakistan China Institute (PCI) and Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here. Talking during the conference, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed said that “green is a defining element of China’s development agenda” and President Xi Jinping on the occasion of COP in 2015, while pledging carbon neutrality, had made the commitment that China would emerge as a leader in green development. Today China is leading the world as producer and investor in green technology and finance, he said, adding that the shift to green technology has created additional 54 million jobs so far, which shows the immense multifaceted potential of green development. He was of the view that China is officially at par or has taken lead from USA in green technologies, AI, STEM, etc.
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Senator Engg. Rukhsana Zuberi stressed on conducting energy audits to identify wasteful practices and increase the energy efficiency. She said that after the first energy audit of the building of Pakistan Energy Council, 35% reduction in energy consumption was achieved. She stressed the need for advocacy and engaging with common people to increase energy efficiency at the household level by highlighting the financial cost that can be saved by making small consumption changes. Dr Zhao Baige, Vice Chair of the 12th NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, Chair of Advisory Committee of RDI recalled that China announced in 2016 its policy for carbon neutrality and has been committed to achieving the policy guidelines, which is the reason behind China emerging as a global leader in renewables and emission reduction. She stressed that Pakistan has immense potential for green development by promoting renewable energy. She said that Chinese enterprises are interested in investing in green development projects in Pakistan and much can be achieved with commitment, cooperation and right policies.
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Dr Abid Q. Suleri, the Executive Director, SDPI, said that China successfully reduced SMOG and particulate-matter air pollution by 60% in a short span in Beijing. He maintained that China’s Great Green Wall in 2013-14 was another initiative, which effectively managed desertification. CPEC is not limited to trade or energy rather agriculture and food security are an essential component of green CPEC and use of nature for greening is visible in various CPEC initiatives, including China’s assistance to Pakistan in the form of genetically engineered seeds and rice, he added.
Christoph Nedopil said that since 2022, there’s a much stronger willingness among Chinese companies to invest abroad in hi-tech sectors, as it is an area with immense potential, which Pakistan can avail. He said that till 2019, China followed the host country’s environmental regulations in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) construction and banking projects, but that has changed significantly. He called for preventing brown environmental risks at the heart and center of BRI projects. He said that China has a traffic light system to identify environmental risks and enable Chinese stakeholders to evaluate them and decelerate brown projects and accelerate green projects. Farid Ahmed, Group Chief, Corporate and Investment, Bank of Punjab said that the forex crunch, lack of indigenous production of RE machinery and import restrictions is hindering the uptake of projects. He said that the financing space is dominated by 8-10 banks offering long-term financing for RE projects and must be expanded. He further said that only one bank in Pakistan is currently accredited with Green Climate Fund and two more banks are in process which renews the hope for increase in concessionary financial instruments and international financing.
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Hamza Orakzai, Director Strategic Planning and Regulatory Affairs, Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA), informed that for the first time, new laws for investors in SEZs have been introduced in Pakistan to simplify the legal and regulatory environment which will build a strong business case for attracting investments. Mujtaba Khan, CEO of Reon Energy, said that our demand for solar technology has been increasing annually which in itself is an opportunity. However, government regulations complicate the process and discourage investors.
Mustafa Hyder Sayed, the Executive Director, Pakistan China Institute, in his concluding remarks, stressed on establishing Special Economic Zone (SEZs) at strategic location to explore their true potential as simply mushrooming them is not enough. He said that Shenzhen emerged as the most successful model of SEZs is due to its strategic location in proximity to other business clusters. Renewable energy can be expanded in Pakistan if they are made profitable and return on investment can be guaranteed.
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