The International Energy Agency has come up with a highly positive news. According to it, the energy crisis is fuelling an acceleration of the rollout of renewable power, raising hopes for efforts to meet ambitious targets against global warming.

Its estimates say that total renewables capacity growth worldwide is set to almost double in the next five years and overtake coal as the largest source of electricity generation by 2025. Given the global warming challenges, it’s heartening to note that the developed world is obsessed with renewable energy just now.

Hamstrung by lack of foreign exchange, Pakistan is struggling to provide imported fuel to its people. Not only have rising electricity tariffs added a strain to the budgets of households and industry alike, they are likely to exacerbate the incidence of power theft by unscrupulous elements.

Moreover, the government is finding it extremely difficult to keep pace with the increasing power demand because of its growing inability to bear the energy import bill without recourse to lending from foreign lending agencies and commercial banks. In the context of Pakistan, therefore, it is more about lack of required foreign exchange or resources than the targets against global warming.

The situation, therefore, underscores the need for reducing reliance on imported fuel in a phased-wise manner while making investments in and sharpening focus on renewable power. In the long term, renewable energy can help Pakistan reduce its trade deficit and correct its current account imbalance in a meaningful manner.

Ehtesham Mirza (Karachi)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022