ISLAMABAD: Addressing the Leaders Summit in Washington, Special Assistant to the Pakistani Prime Minister on Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam, said Pakistan was doing its “share” in combating climate change and was committed to switching to 60 percent clean energy in the next decade, local media reported on Friday.

Last year, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan told a virtual gathering of global leaders that Pakistan had decided not to generate any more coal-based power and had scraped two coal power projects that were meant to produce 2,600 megawatt of energy. “By 2030, 60 percent of all energy produced in Pakistan will be clean energy,” the PM had promised in December 2020.

“We have committed ourselves to 60pc clean energy and 30pc electric vehicle transition by 2030,” Aslam said at the two-day virtual summit, being held on April 22 and 23. “So, Pakistan is clearly doing more than its share for the climate change issue.”

He added: “Now, the world needs to do more on climate finance. It needs to deliver climate finance for countries in energy transition, for countries who need to adapt, like Pakistan … It needs to honor the commitment of $100 billion a year” to this cause, as promised.”

Leaders from 40 countries are attending the two-day virtual summit, which started on Earth Day with big pledges from the world’s major carbon emitters, China, the US, India and Russia.

US President Biden, who is hosting the summit, made the biggest pledge, promising to cut his country’s carbon emissions by 50 to 52pc from 2005 levels.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga raised Japan’s target for cutting emissions to 46pc by 2030, up from 26pc.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to reduce his country’s emissions by 40 to 45pc by 2030 below 2005 levels, up from 30pc.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said the country will achieve net zero emissions by 2060.

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed giving preferential treatment for foreign investment in clean energy projects, but also blamed the US for the climate crisis. “It is no secret that the conditions that facilitated global warming and associated problems go way back,” he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he and President Biden were launching the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 partnership to “help mobilize investments, demonstrate clean technologies, and enable green collaborations.”

When US President Joe Biden last month invited 40 world leaders to the Leaders Summit on Climate, Pakistan was not initially on the list, prompting PM Khan to openly express his displeasure over the snub. Islamabad’s climate adviser eventually received an invitation earlier this month.