LAHORE: External support has so far remained below the levels needed to meet Pakistan’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, as the country has received about $5½ billion for climate projects during 2016–19, of which $3.4 billion were directed to mitigation, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) country report about Pakistan.
Recently, the report added, Pakistan has also tapped private sources, issuing a green bond in 2021, whose US$500 million are earmarked for (Diamer Basha Dam) projects increasing the share of hydro-energy in the national power generation mix.
According to the report, stepping up nature-based solutions (NBS) Pakistan’s nationally-financed flagship project is the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Program (TBTTP), which is not only an initiative for large reforestation with the aim to plant 10 billion trees in 2021–23 to help mitigate the climate breakdown, but also an initiative for comprehensive ecosystem conservation and management to address decades-long environmental degradation (mainly from illegal timber logging).
By mid-2021, more than one billion new trees have been planted, with the engagement of provinces and administrative entities throughout the country.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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