RIO DE JANEIRO: While Pakistan and New Zealand have included nature protection in stimulus packages offered during the coronavirus pandemic, at least 22 countries have enacted or proposed changes in this period that weaken environmental regulation, endangering protected areas around the globe, according to a research paper published on Thursday.
Brazil, India and the United States are the hotspots of COVID-era rollbacks, said the paper, part of a wider report published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) on how protected areas were affected by the pandemic.
“During a time when all eyes were obviously on COVID ... you had governments reducing budgets or weakening environmental protection,” said Mariana Napolitano Ferreira, head of science at WWF Brazil and one of 150 researchers who wrote the report.
The report showed that the pandemic significantly impacted protected areas around the globe beyond just rollbacks, with the crisis leading to job losses among protected area rangers, reduced anti-poaching patrols, and deaths among indigenous communities living in those lands.
Ferreira said it was expected that President Joe Biden’s administration would stop rollbacks enacted by the previous administration during the pandemic, but in Brazil and India the situation was not as clear.
The paper cited a proposal sent by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to Congress that would allow mining and oil and gas extraction within indigenous reserves.
In a video made public last May, Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles argued for deregulation of environmental protection while Brazilians were distracted by the pandemic.
Regarding India, the paper cited at least 31 proposals to open up national parks and sanctuaries for infrastructure, extraction and development projects, including coal mining.
A survey of more than 60 countries found that more than one in four rangers saw their salary reduced or delayed, while 20% reported losing jobs due to budget cuts related to the pandemic.
Rangers in Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Africa and Asia were the most badly affected, said the report.
Eight countries in the European Union have earmarked funding to expand or strengthen protected areas in the past year, the report said.
Seventeen countries have maintained or increased their support to protected areas despite the crisis.
Researchers argued that to diminish the risk of a new pandemic, countries should create new protected areas and make existing ones economically sustainable as new diseases can arise when forests and other wild areas are converted for human use.
“In this moment of economic and humanitarian crisis, we have an unique opportunity to stop and think on how to rebuild,” said Ferreira.
Pakistan pushes nature protection during pandemic as over 20 countries found weakening environment
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Pakistan pushes nature protection during pandemic as over 20 countries found weakening environment
- At least 22 countries enacted or proposed changes during coronavirus that weaken environmental regulation, endangering protected areas around the globe
- Brazil, India and the United States are hotspots of COVID-era rollbacks, a report by International Union for Conservation of Nature says
Pakistan PM orders accelerated privatization of power sector to tackle losses
- Tenders to be issued for privatization of three major electricity distribution firms, PMO says
- Sharif says Pakistan to develop battery energy storage through public-private partnerships
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday directed the government to speed up privatization of state-owned power companies and improve electricity infrastructure nationwide, as authorities try to address deep-rooted losses and inefficiencies in the energy sector that have weighed on the economy and public finances.
Pakistan’s electricity system has long struggled with financial distress caused by a combination of factors including theft of power, inefficient collection of bills, high costs of generating electricity and a large burden of unpaid obligations known as “circular debt.” In the first quarter of the current financial year, government-owned distribution companies recorded losses of about Rs171 billion ($611 million) due to poor bill recovery and operational inefficiencies, official documents show. Circular debt in the broader power sector stood at around Rs1.66 trillion ($5.9 billion) in mid-2025, a sharp decline from past peaks but still a major fiscal drain.
Efforts to contain these losses have been a focus of Pakistan’s economic reform program with the International Monetary Fund, which has urged structural changes in the energy sector as part of financing conditions. Previous government initiatives have included signing a $4.5 billion financing facility with local banks to ease power sector debt and reducing retail electricity tariffs to support economic recovery.
“Electricity sector privatization and market-based competition is the sustainable solution to the country’s energy problems,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said at a meeting reviewing the roadmap for power sector reforms, according to a statement from the prime minister’s office.
The meeting reviewed progress on privatization and infrastructure projects. Officials said tenders for modernizing one of Pakistan’s oldest operational hubs, Rohri Railway Station, will be issued soon and that the Ghazi Barotha to Faisalabad transmission line, designed to improve long-distance transmission of electricity, is in the initial approval stages. While not all power-sector decisions were detailed publicly, the government emphasized expanding private sector participation and completing priority projects to strengthen the electricity grid.
In another key development, the prime minister endorsed plans to begin work on a battery energy storage system with participation from private investors to help manage fluctuations in supply and demand, particularly as renewable energy sources such as solar and wind take a growing role in generation. Officials said the concept clearance for the storage system has been approved and feasibility studies are underway.
Government briefing documents also outlined steps toward shifting some electricity plants from imported coal to locally mined Thar coal, where a railway line expansion is underway to support transport of fuel, potentially lowering costs and import dependence in the long term.
State authorities also pledged to address safety by converting unmanned railway crossings to staffed ones and to strengthen food safety inspections at stations, underscoring broader infrastructure and service improvements connected to energy and transport priorities.
