ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasized his country’s resolve to fight climate change on Wednesday, urging the global community to recognize the shared responsibility to protect the planet by taking the right steps while moving forward.
Pakistan ranks among the top ten countries most vulnerable to climate change, having experienced severe droughts, floods and heat waves in recent years.
The catastrophic floods of 2022 particularly underscored this susceptibility, inflicting over $38 billion in damages to homes, farmlands and public infrastructure across the nation.
The prime minister, who is currently on a five-day China visit, issued the message on World Environment Day, which is commemorated annually on June 5.
“Today, on the occasion of #WorldEnvironmentDay, let us join hands to safeguard and preserve our environment, not only for the well-being of people but also for the survival of our planet,” he wrote in a social media post.
“Though we cannot turn back time, we can certainly make a significant impact on the health and sustainability of our environment by taking proactive steps toward endeavors to nurture and cultivate forests, revive and replenish dwindling water sources, and rehabilitate and revitalize exhausted soils,” he added.
In a detailed statement issued by his office in Islamabad, Sharif said his country had a firm resolve to combat environmental challenges and stands committed for contributing to global efforts toward sustainability.
“Initiatives such as the Green Pakistan Programme, Living Indus Initiative, and National Adaptation Plan, underscore our commitment to reforestation and ecosystem restoration, tackling issues of deforestation and biodiversity loss head-on,” he said.
The prime minister noted Pakistan’s climate diplomacy efforts, particularly its role in establishing a Loss and Damage Fund during COP27, had been widely recognized.
He maintained on the domestic front, Pakistan was actively working on developing sustainable long-term low-carbon development strategies with assistance from United Nations Development Program and the World Bank.
PM Sharif calls for global unity in climate action, highlights Pakistan’s commitment
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PM Sharif calls for global unity in climate action, highlights Pakistan’s commitment
- PM issues the message on World Environment Day for the well-being of people and survival of the planet
- He calls for ‘proactive steps’ to nurture and cultivate forests, revive and replenish dwindling water sources
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.
