OICCI’s climate moot attracts local, global corporate leaders alike

KARACHI: The Pakistan Climate Conference has brought together experts and corporate leaders, both local and global, to initiate a dialogue on this important topic.

The Pakistan Climate Conference was organized by Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) and was hosted at the premises of Unilever Pakistan.

The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Ministry to Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam while speaking at the Pakistan Climate Conference 2022 said it is a great achievement and honor for Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), the collective voice of top foreign investors in Pakistan, to bring together several corporations on one platform and help the government lead climate actions in Pakistan and contribute to Nationally Determined Commitments (NDCs) made at the COP26.

The conference was attended by a large number of participants, both physically and virtually, including government officials, senior industry leaders, climate change activists, academia, senior journalists and civil society members.

Adviser to PM on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood, also applauded the OICCI and said that Climate change has a direct economic impact and Pakistan Climate Conference has laid the foundation for an action plan that will help Pakistan meet its global climate commitments and ensure the sustainability of its economy.

President OICCI, Ghias Khan, in his speech said that the OICCI’s ambition for the Pakistan Climate Conference is to build on learning from COP 26 to identify and implement efforts needed to reduce climate impact in Pakistan. “In this conference our aim is to bring together climate experts, policy makers and corporate decision makers to share learning and best practices to help Pakistan develop necessary climate interventions,” he added.

Vice President OICCI, Amir Paracha highlighted that the local as well as global speakers at the conference shared their ambitions, solutions, and global best practices to foster climate change actions in Pakistan. They said that Pakistan has much to do if it is to meet its ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which aims to cut 50 percent of projected emissions and achieve 60 percent renewable energy by 2030. In addition, Pakistan has set the vision to work on clean transport, with 30 percent electric vehicles by 2030. All of this requires urgent and concrete policy action within the country over the remainder of this decade. In view of this ambition, the Pakistan Climate Conference has started dialog on several critical areas and provide the dialogue needed for the country to speed up its climate positive journey.

While some of the global and local speakers who joined the conference physically and virtually included Knut Ostby - Resident Representative of UNDP Pakistan; Ms. Nadja Picard - Head of Reporting, PwC Global; Alan Jope - CEO Unilever Global; Jesper Brodin - CEO IKEA Global; Bill Winters - CEO SCB Global and Alok Sharma - President COP26.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022