ISLAMABAD: Cash-strapped Pakistan, struggling to bolster depleted public finances, hopes to earn much-needed hard currency by selling UN-backed carbon offsets from a massive reforestation project named the Billion Tree Tsunami, the climate change ministry said on Tuesday.
If approved and registered by the United Nations, this would be the first project for Pakistan under a scheme called the Clean Development Mechanism that promotes investments in emission-reducing projects in the developing world by companies and governments in rich nations.
In return for building wind farms or other projects, such investments can earn valuable carbon offsets called certified emission reductions (CERs) that can be sold for profit or used to meet mandatory targets to cut emissions.
Cricket-star turned politician Imran Khan, whose Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the 2018 general election in Pakistan, spearheaded the Billion Tree Tsunami project, which started in 2014 and cost $169 million. Under the project, a total of 300 million trees of 42 different species were planted across the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the PTI headed the provincial government from 2013-2019.
Khan, now prime minister, has allocated $47 million in this year’s budget to expand the forestation project and plant 100 million trees in five years across the country.
Now, the government wants to be rewarded for the project that it says will go a long way in reducing carbon emissions.
“We have awarded consultancy to a reputable firm to examine the potential of carbon credits in Pakistan and their prospects of being sold in the international market,” Javed Shahzad, a spokesman for the Ministry of Climate Change, told Arab News, adding that the firm would complete its work within six months.
“Prices of carbon credits keep changing in the international market, but we are hopeful to at least recover the cost of our Billion Tree Tsunami project by selling the credits,” Shahzad said.
Inger Andersen, head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the NGO in charge of administering the Bonn Challenge, has described the Pakistani project as “a true conservation success story.” Experts at World Wildlife Fund-Pakistan, which monitored and conducted an independent audit of the reforestation drive, have said the project has been an environmental, economic and social success.
Pakistan is the seventh most affected country by the adverse impacts of climate change, though it emits less than one percent of total annual global greenhouse gases. In a report submitted to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations recently, Pakistan has sought compensation for its low carbon footprint to meet the estimated $10.7 billion per year needed for climate adaptation, and $8-17 billion for mitigation.
Under the Clean Development Mechanism, a carbon credit is issued for every ton of avoided greenhouse gases, and holders of the credits can then contribute the credits to their national targets, or sell them back on the market for money.
Government around the world raised approximately $33 billion in carbon pricing revenues in 2017 through allowance auctions, direct payments to meet compliance obligations and carbon tax receipts, said a World Bank report titled “State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2018.” This amount represents an increase of nearly $11 billion compared to the $22 billion raised in 2016.
“The international market for selling and buying carbon credits is very small, and Pakistan should not expect to earn a huge amount based on its low-emission projects,” Dr. Pervaiz Amir, a climate expert said.
He suggested instead that the government should hire international experts and firms to develop low-emission and climate-resilient projects for which it could get grants from the World Bank and the Green Climate Fund, which have an allocation of $250 billion and $100 billion respectively to help developing countries cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“We should develop partnerships with industrial countries like Japan, Norway and Germany to help them meet their carbon emission targets and earn revenue,” Amir said.
Pakistan seeks to earn millions on carbon credits from ‘Billion Tree Tsunami’ project
Pakistan seeks to earn millions on carbon credits from ‘Billion Tree Tsunami’ project
- Consultancy hired to examine prospects of selling carbon credits in international market, climate ministry says
- UN Clean Development Mechanism promotes investments in emission-reducing projects in developing world by rich nations
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
