India has abstained from signing a pledge that aims to cut down the emission of greenhouse gas— methane by 2030. The United States and European Union have jointly pledged to cut down methane emission by 30 per cent compared with 2020 levels, in an attempt to fight rapid climate change. The 'Global Methane Pledge' was launched at the ongoing COP26 summit in Glasgow and was signed by as many as 100 countries. In another major development, 133 countries have signed a Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use — a declaration initiated by the United Kingdom to "halt deforestation" and land degradation by 2030. India has kept an arm's length from this ambitious environmental goal as well.

------------------

China, Russia, and India are the top three emitters of greenhouse gas. Though the top three methane emitters have decided not to be a signatory, six on the list of the world's top 10 methane producers—the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Mexico—have taken the pledge.

--------------------

Agents Emitting Methane Livestock emission—from manure and gastroenteric releases amounts to 32 per cent of human-caused methane emission. With the ever-increasing global population, the demand for animal protein has also increased worldwide. Another contributor to agriculture methane is paddy rice cultivation, where the flooded fields prevent the oxygen from penetrating the soil. This accounts for another 8 per cent of human-made emissions. How To Cut Down Methane Emission It has been said cutting methane emissions is the quickest way to tackle climate change since the gas has accounted for roughly 30 per cent of global warming since pre-industrial times and has been rapidly multiplying. UNEP Food Systems and Agriculture Advisor James Lomax says the world needs to begin by "rethinking our approaches to agricultural cultivation and livestock production." It includes leveraging new technology, shifting towards plant-rich diets, and embracing alternative sources of protein. Lomax says that it will be key if humanity is to slash greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C, a target of the Paris climate change agreement.


https://thelogicalindian.com/environment/india-methane-emissions-31820

Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent) - Country Ranking
Definition: Methane emissions are those stemming from human activities such as agriculture and from industrial methane production.


https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/EN.ATM.METH.KT.CE/rankings

Rank Country Value Year
1 China 1,752,290.00 2012
2 India 636,395.80 2012
3 Russia 545,818.60 2012
4 United States 499,809.30 2012
5 Brazil 477,076.80 2012
6 Indonesia 223,315.70 2012
7 Pakistan 158,336.60 2012
8 Australia 125,588.20 2012
9 Iran 121,298.10 2012
10 Mexico 116,704.60 2012

Global methane deal signed by 105 countries (including 8th largest emitter Pakistan) but missing major emitters
Biggest contributors to pollution, such as China, Russia and India, not part of agreement to cut emissions by 30% this decade


https://www.ft.com/content/65a346e4-1ce8-4027-9427-a3347691e8bd

More than 100 countries have signed up to a global initiative to crackdown on methane pollution over the coming decade, but a handful of major emitters remain outside the deal sealed at the UN climate summit.

Several big contributors to global emissions, including China, Russia and India, are not signatories to the “global methane pledge”, spearheaded by the EU and US.

However, the number of countries supporting the initiative has grown from just six members when it was initially announced in September, to 105 at its official launch at the Glasgow world leader talks.

The pledge commits countries to reducing their emissions of methane — a potent greenhouse gas emitted from the energy, agriculture and waste sectors — by 30 per cent by the end of the decade from 2020 levels.

US president Joe Biden described it as a “game-changer”, as he launched the initiative on Tuesday, alongside new rules on US emissions. “One of the most important things we can do in this decisive decade to keep 1.5 degrees [global warming] in reach is to reduce our methane emissions as quickly as possible,” he said.



Methane has 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, making it key to efforts to tackle global warming. The initiative has estimated that a 30 per cent fall in methane emissions by 2030 would reduce global warming by at least 0.2C by 2050.

Temperatures have already risen by an estimated 1.1C since pre-industrial times.

“Putting methane at the top of the agenda for these talks is a critical move that will improve the lives of millions at home and around the world by holding off climate chaos,” said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund. “It will be one of the major success stories of the Glasgow talks.”

The agreement coincided with the release of new plans by the White House to crack down on US oil and gas industry pollution from methane.


Those rules, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, go beyond any previous regulation of methane in the US, forcing operators of both new and existing infrastructure to monitor and fix leaks of the gas.

The announcement delivered an environmental victory to President Biden, after his plans to enact extensive climate spending suffered a new setback due to resistance from Joe Manchin, the pivotal centrist West Virginia Democrat.

Biden had hoped to pass legislation pumping more than $555bn into tackling climate change ahead of the Glasgow summit. Manchin said on Monday he had lingering “concerns” about the $1.75tn package and he could not guarantee he would vote for the bill.

Slow progress domestically has undermined the US abroad as it seeks to cajole other world leaders into making greater climate-related commitments at the COP26 summit.




But the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers hit out at the proposals, saying they risked putting hundreds of smaller producers out of business. “Rushing this proposal to meet a global conference agenda does not make for good environmental or economic policy,” said Jason Modglin, its president.

From Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)

https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/production/en/

Milk production
Approximately 150 million households around the globe are engaged in milk production. In most developing countries, milk is produced by smallholders, and milk production contributes to household livelihoods, food security and nutrition. Milk provides relatively quick returns for small-scale producers and is an important source of cash income.


In the last three decades, world milk production has increased by more than 59 percent, from 530 million tonnes in 1988 to 843 million tonnes in 2018.
India is the world’s largest milk producer, with 22 percent of global production, followed by the United States of America, China, Pakistan and Brazil.
Since the 1970s, most of the expansion in milk production has been in South Asia, which is the main driver of milk production growth in the developing world.
Milk production in Africa is growing more slowly than in other developing regions, because of poverty and – in some countries – adverse climatic conditions.
The countries with the highest milk surpluses are New Zealand, the United States of America, Germany, France, Australia and Ireland.
The countries with the highest milk deficits are China, Italy, the Russian Federation, Mexico, Algeria and Indonesia.

#India, World's 3rd Biggest Emitter, Wants $1 Trillion To Raise Targets to Cut Emissions. Even as 121 nations have submitted their official #climate pledges to the #UN in documents know as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), India has not. #COP26 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-10/india-holds-back...

The world’s third-biggest emitter also opposes a push at the COP26 climate talks to phase out coal and end subsidies for oil and gas.

India has named its price in high-stakes climate talks: if the rich countries want it to cut planet-warming emissions, they need to come up with $1 trillion of public cash by the end of the decade.

The demand comes after India’s surprise announcement at the opening of COP26 negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland, that it would set an ambitious new goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that rich countries should provide as much as $1 trillion in climate finance.

On Wednesday, Indian officials clarified their demands. They want $1 trillion in funds just for India by 2030 — ten times more than the unmet $100 billion a year for all poor countries sought under previous deals. Over a decade, that would mean advanced economies have to give India the same amount of funds they’ve promised for all poor countries.

India is asking for such a large sum because it’s also taking into account loss and damage, Environment Secretary Rameshwar Prasad Gupta said in an interview, referring to what poor countries see as a debt owed by nations who are responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gases accumulated in the atmosphere. Rich countries’ current $100 billion a year target is only meant to fund decarbonization measures and infrastructure that helps protect against more extreme weather events.

Even as 121 countries have submitted their official climate pledges to the UN in documents know as nationally determined contributions, India has held back. “Let’s be clear,” an unnamed delegate told the Hindustan Times, “India will not update its NDC till there is clarity on climate finance.” The Indians want a clear promise on making the funds available “as soon as possible,” an official told Bloomberg Green.

India also pushed back on proposed language in the final Glasgow agreement that countries will “accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels.” Gupta said the nation will only move away from the dirtiest fossil fuel if it gets the financial support it’s asking for.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said after a meeting with the Indian delegation in Glasgow that he “won’t promise” $1 trillion for India, and still needs to look at the details. In the meeting, Kerry committed the U.S. to joining the International Solar Alliance which is headquartered in the Indian city of Gurugram.

Cement sector pledges to decarbonise Pakistan

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/906340-cement-sector-pledges-to-de...

KARACHI: Pakistan Business Council (PBC) hosted a virtual session with British High Commission and Embassy of Italy to discuss the pathways for the decarbonisation of the country's cement sector.

This webinar comes at a time when the world leaders have huddled in Glasgow to discuss sustainability and growth without compromising everyone’s collective future. Speaking at the moot, Mike Nithavrianakis, British Deputy High Commissioner and Director of Trade, said, “Next to water, concrete is the second-most consumed substance on earth; on average, each person uses nearly three tonnes a year”.

According to Nithavrianakis, the concrete industry uses about 1.6 billion tons of Portland cement to produce 12 billion tons of concrete a year and accounts for 7-8 percent of greenhouse emissions. Ehsan Malik, CEO PBC, said, “The investment in infrastructure and the construction packages of the government will entail substantial increase in the use of cement in Pakistan, so we need to think about climate-resilient ways of production”.

Muhammad Ali Tabba, CEO Lucky Cement Limited and President of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association said, “In a bid to achieve green growth going forward, the industry globally will have to adapt to climate change challenges and rework business models to ensure environmental stewardship and robust growth and the cement industry in Pakistan is committed to playing its role”. Faustine Delasalle, Co-Executive Director, Mission Possible Partnership and Director, Energy Transitions Commission explained, “There are essentially three routes, which need to be taken to meet the increasing demand whilst reducing emissions in the cement sector”. “The first being a need to relook at using materials efficiently, the second being improving energy efficiency and the third being employing new technologies to cut emissions,” Delasalle added.

According to the statement, Pakistan’s leading companies are also committing to reduce carbon emissions by disclosing their pledge openly. More than 28 companies from various sectors have signed the pledge letter to the ‘Business Ambition to 1.5 Degrees’ – and are ready to embark on the journey to reduce Carbon emissions to 50 percent by 2030.

#Pakistan's 720 MW Karot #hydropower dam starts filling reservoir, getting ready to generate #electricity. First private-sector IPP hydropower project nearing completion under #CPEC (#China-Pakistan Economic Corridor). #energy #renewable #ClimateAction https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-11-20/Pakistan-s-Karot-Hydropower-S...

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a 3,000-kilometer-long route of infrastructure projects connecting northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Gwadar Port in the western province of Balochistan in Pakistan.

On Saturday, the first hydropower project along this corridor, the Karot Hydropower Station, closed the gates of its diversion tunnels after six years of construction, and officially started to impound water. That's the accumulation of water in its reservoir for future use.

It's a milestone event, marking the completion of around 95 percent of the project.

Engineers recounted challenges in the construction of the hydropower plant.

"We spent two years working out solutions to cope with the sandstone and mudstone underground, which interrupted our grouting work. We made it after repeated trial and error. The cement used for the construction was produced locally, so we tried very hard to control temperature rise and reduce cracks in the concrete," Zuo Yaxi, head of the Engineering Department of China Three Gorges South Asia Investment Ltd. (CSAIL), told CGTN in an interview.

The Karot Hydropower Station is located on the Jhelum River in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. With an installed capacity of 7,200 megawatts, it can provide over 3 billion kilowatt hours of clean energy each year, supplying electricity to about 5 million people in the country.

The project did not only provide employment, but will also bring down electricity costs for consumers.

N.A. Zubeiri, CSAIL senior consultant explained to CGTN that "during construction, about 3,000 to 5,000 people will be employed, and they're already employed here. Another important thing is that the tariff for the project is around 7.5 U.S. cents per unit. So consumers in Pakistan will get cheaper electricity from this basic project."

The project is an investment by China Three Gorges Corporation, a Chinese enterprise that's among the world's largest producers of hydroelectric power. Its subsidiary, the CSAIL, holds the majority share of the Karot Power Company that operates the plant.

The plant will be transferred to the provincial government after 30 years.

"This project is coming from private sectors. After completing 30 years, this project will be transferred to the provincial government, which means the government of Punjab will get a project of $1.7 billion for free," Zubeiri added.

The Karot Hydropower Station is the first investment project of the Silk Road Fund, and is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Once completed, it's expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan by 3.5 million tonnes per year.

Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) is executing the biggest-ever portfolio of development projects in Pakistan including Diamer Basha Dam, Dasu Hydropower Project and Mohmand Dam worth $26 billion after a span of almost five decades by adopting an innovative financing strategy on the back of a robust capital structure and strong balance sheet footing.

https://nation.com.pk/11-Nov-2021/wapda-executing-projects-worth-do...


WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (retd) highlighted this in the meeting with a delegation of JP Morgan comprising senior representatives namely Asif Raza, Managing Director Global Corporate Bank CEEMEA, Imran Zaidi, Managing Director Global Corporate Bank covering Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Amin M Khawaja, Chief Executive Officer Pakistan. WAPDA Member (Finance) Naveed Asghar was also present on the occasion.

Giving a run-down of 10 under construction WAPDA projects, the chairman said that these projects would enhance water storage capacity by more than 11 MAF and add another 9,000 MW of hydel electricity to the system. WAPDA has unparalleled institutional capacity to identify and implement multipurpose hydropower projects. It has adopted a multi-pronged strategy including Green Eurobonds and Syndicate loans etc for implementation of its projects. This was a radical shift from entire reliance on the Government of Pakistan. WAPDA’s business model has an important role to play in the development of a sustainable and lower-carbon economy in Pakistan, he said. The chairman said that WAPDA would continue to approach the international financial and capital market in a staggered mode, to minimise financing cost, in line with its financing requirements and would look forward to bring further investments in the hydropower sector which would go a long way to reduce carbon footprint in the power generation sector of Pakistan. He appreciated the role played by JP Morgan as the lead arranger for WAPDA’s debut Green Eurobond issuance alongside Deutsche, Standard Chartered and HBL Bank.

Tax breaks kick Pakistan's electric car shift into higher gear

https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/tax-breaks-kick-pakistans-elec...

ISLAMABAD, Nov 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Pakistani businessman Nawabzada Kalam Ullah Khan had been planning to swap his family's petrol-powered cars for electric models for years.

But it wasn't until a set of massive tax cuts came into effect in July that the 29-year-old from Pakistan's capital Islamabad finally put in an order for two electric cars.

"Someone has to take the initiative to switch to these cost-efficient, environment-friendly vehicles in the face of increasing pollution in big cities - and we've done it," Khan said.

His new cars, he said now cost about five times less to run day to day than his old vehicles, a major incentive to make the switch.

Major Pakistan and Indian cities are struggling with dangerous levels of air pollution, with Pakistan's Lahore this week declared the most polluted city in the world.

Heavy use of fossil-fuel-powered vehicles for transport combined with smoke from seasonal crop burning make the problem particularly severe at this time of year.

But Pakistan's electric vehicle push is picking up speed, nearly two years after the country launched its ambitious green policy, which envisions a shift to 30% electric cars and trucks nationwide by 2030, and 90% by 2040.

Key to the shift are hefty tax exemptions for both electric vehicles imports and imports of parts and equipment to build the cars in Pakistan.



That has helped make the vehicles more affordable, industry figures said, as Prime Minister Imran Khan's government pushes ahead with its plan to cut carbon emissions and urban pollution.

The general sales tax on locally manufactured electric cars - those with batteries holding less than 50-kilowatt hours (kWh) of power - has dropped from 17% to nearly zero, said Asim Ayaz, general manager of the government's Engineering Development Board (EDB).

At the same time, the customs duty on imported electric car parts - such as batteries, controllers and inverters - is down to 1%.

The duty on importing fully built electric cars also has fallen from 25% to 10% for one year, Ayaz told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Officials say the tax relief is a big step toward implementing Pakistan's National Electric Vehicle Policy, originally passed by the cabinet in November 2019.


It aims to put half a million electric motorcycles and rickshaws and 100,000 electric cars, vans and small trucks into the transportation system by 2025.

"Definitely the tax exemptions make the price point (on electric vehicles) competitive," said Malik Amin Aslam, the special assistant to the prime minister on climate change.

"It makes it extremely attractive for the customer to go electric."

Aslam said if about a third of new cars sold run on electricity by 2030, as envisioned, Pakistan could see a big drop in climate-changing emissions and pollution.


Electric vehicles currently produce 65% fewer planet-warming gases than those running on fossil fuels, he said.

Pakistan ranks second, behind Bangladesh, according to a list of nations with the worst air quality compiled last year by IQAir, a Swiss group that measures levels of lung-damaging airborne particles known as PM2.5.

In Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province with Lahore as its capital, transport accounts for more than 40% of total air-polluting emissions, followed by industry and agriculture, according to a 2019 study by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization.

Shaukat Qureshi, general secretary of the Pakistan Electric Vehicles and Parts Manufacturers and Traders Association, said the new tax cuts mean savings of up to 500,000 rupees ($2,900) on imported small electric vehicles.

Tax breaks kick Pakistan's electric car shift into higher gear

https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/tax-breaks-kick-pakistans-elec...

Shaukat Qureshi, general secretary of the Pakistan Electric Vehicles and Parts Manufacturers and Traders Association, said the new tax cuts mean savings of up to 500,000 rupees ($2,900) on imported small electric vehicles.

He said many members of the association have used the incentives to order them for the first time.

There are no reliable figures on how many electric cars local importers have ordered brought into the country since the government announced the exemptions.

But in his other role as chief operating officer of car company Zia Electromotive, which imports and manufactures electric vehicles, Qureshi said he has ordered 100 small electric cars from China and plans to import 100 more every month after that.

Pakistanis - like many other people around the world - have historically been reluctant to switch to electric vehicles for reasons ranging from higher costs to lack of charging infrastructure and "fear of the unknown", said Ayaz at the EDB.

The tax cuts help remove the cost obstacle, he said - and could help create about 20,000 new jobs in the auto industry as Pakistani car companies start manufacturing electric cars, he predicted.

The charging infrastructure issue remains, though some companies have already established charging stations in big cities and along motorways.

Climate change and development expert Ali Tauqeer Sheikh said the government should encourage the private sector to install more charging stations near offices, homes and parking lots.

To overcome worries that electric vehicles may have no resale value, car manufacturers and dealers could offer buy-back guarantees, he added.

But, Sheikh said, simply selling more electric cars is not enough to tackle Pakistan's emissions and air pollution, since the total number of vehicles being sold - mainly traditional cars - is still growing every year.

He said the government needs to push to completely phase out fuel-run and hybrid vehicles by increasing taxes on them and provide affordable bank loans for people looking to buy electric.

"Poor people who use motorbikes and rickshaws deserve to have more electric vehicles on the roads to cut air pollution," he said.

Chinese Electric Vehicle manufacturing companies invited to invest in Pakistani market

https://www.app.com.pk/global/chinese-electric-vehicle-manufacturin...

BEIJING, Nov 4 (APP): Pakistan Ambassador to China, Moinul Haque on Thursday called on Liu Ziqing, Member of Municipal standing committee and Secretary of Working Committee of Wuhan and discussed cooperation between Pakistan and Wuhan in the industrial and technological sectors.

During the meeting held at Demonstration Zone of Wuhan new energy and smart network, Liu Ziqing briefed the ambassador about the immense growth potential of Wuhan city particularly in the areas of biotechnology, semiconductors and new energy and smart network. Moreover, the demonstration zone was being developed into an auto valley.


He offered collaboration between automobile companies of the two countries in this special zone.


Recalling that during the opening ceremony of the Military Games held in Wuhan in October 2019, Pakistani contingent was given a standing ovation by the cheering crowd in the presence of President Xi Jinping.


Liu Ziqing said that the people of Wuhan have a special bond of friendship with Pakistan and would like to enhance joint collaboration in diverse areas.


Ambassador Haque remarked that due to their consistent efforts, cooperation between Pakistan and Wuhan was growing rapidly in many new areas.


He noted that new energy vehicles was an important area of cooperation between the two countries as demand for electric vehicles was increasing in Pakistan and invited Chinese Electric Vehicle manufacturing companies to invest in Pakistani market.


The ambassador paid tribute to the brave people of Wuhan for their fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and also thanked Wuhan government for looking after Pakistani students during the pandemic.


Earlier, Ambassador Moinul Haque was given a detailed briefing about the development of new energy vehicles in Wuhan at the demonstration zone. He was also given a tour of locally manufactured AI based driverless electric bus.

Pakistan: World Bank to provide aid for generating 350MW of clean electricity for Karachi
2 solar parks will be established in suburbs of Karachi, each on a 600-acre land

https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-world-bank-to-pro...

Under the initiative, two solar parks will be established in suburbs of Karachi each having the area of 600 acres. One of the parks will be established in Maghopir area of District West and the other clean energy facility will be set up in District Malir of Karachi. Each of the park will generate 175 MWs of clean electricity. The project is expected to be completed in two years with a cost of $40 million.


The Sindh Transmission and Dispatch Company, which is a subsidiary of Sindh government’s Energy Department, will lay the transmission line for evacuation of electricity from the solar parks. The K-Electric will be the buyer of the clean electricity and will also establish grid stations for the purpose.


Sindh Energy Minister, Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, said the provincial government is committed to utilise renewable and indigenous resources for clean power generation for the people of Sindh.

He said the utilisation of the solar power would go a long way to protect the Karachi’s environment and also bring down the cost of electricity for the power consumers in the city.

He said the Sindh government had been making speedy progress to utilise solar power to generate electricity as per the international environmental standards.

The Energy Minister mentioned that after establishing solar parks in Karachi, similar clean energy facilities would be established in Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur, and other cities of Sindh.

The MoU was signed by the K-Electric’s CEO, Moonis Abdullah Alvi, and Sindh government’s Energy Secretary Abu Bakar Madani. The World Bank’s Country Director in Pakistan, Najy Benhassine, attended the MoU signing ceremony virtually.

Fuel being loaded into #Pakistan's 1,100 MW #nuclear power plant K-3 in #Karachi to start generating #electricity by March 2022, brining nuclear to 10% of power in the country. Earlier, K-2 successfully started commercial operation on May 21, 2021. #energy https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/headlines/1867657-pakistan-loa...

akistan has completed the loading of fuel at its Chinese-assisted Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-3 to celebrate three decades of cooperation with its “all-weather ally” China, according to a media report here on Saturday.

Pakistani authorities, after getting a formal permit from the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA), completed the fuel loading process of the second 1,100-megawatt nuclear power plant on Friday, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.

It said that the ceremony to mark “three decades of cooperation between China and Pakistan in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy” as well as of the fuel loading of Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-3, commonly known as K-3, was attended by top officials of nuclear energy related organisations from the two countries.

The report said that K-3 is in the final stages of commissioning and after operational and safety tests, the plant is expected to begin commercial operation by the end of March 2022.

A new era in the nuclear power development programme of Pakistan commenced with the signing of the 'Agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy' between the governments of China and Pakistan in 1986, according to the report.

However, the first concrete step in the remarkable journey was taken 30 years ago when China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) signed the contract for construction and installation of a 325-megawatt Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) at Chashma on December 31, 1991, it said.

The cooperation strengthened with the construction of three more nuclear power plants at Chashma Nuclear Power Generation Station (CNPGS) site.

The contract for the construction of two more units having a generation capacity of 1,100 megawatts each near Karachi was signed on February 18, 2013. These units are called Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 and 3 (K-2 and K-3).

After the groundbreaking of K-2 and K-3 in November 2013, the construction of K-3 was formally started.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, both Pakistan and China faced all odds and continued the construction work. K-2 successfully started commercial operation on May 21, 2021, and now K-3 is expected to do so by the end of March 2022.

K-2 and K-3 are pressurised water reactors based on the Chinese ACP-1000 design and are generation-three plants equipped with advanced safety features.

With the connection of K-2 and K-3 into the national grid, the share of nuclear power in the energy mix of Pakistan will exceed 10 per cent, according to the report.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

#Pakistan to plant 540m #trees in spring 2022.
'Plant for Pakistan Day’ to be marked on February 22 with massive plantation drive. #carbonfootprint #reforestation #PlantForPakistanDay #ClimateCrisis #ClimateAction https://gn24.ae/d1ecbf7b8d3c000

Islamabad: Pakistan has announced planting of more than 540 million trees during the spring season of 2022 to tackle environmental problems, said the advisor on climate change.

PM’s special assistant on climate change Malik Amin Aslam said that the plantation campaign would be conducted in consultation with all provincial forest departments and by involving youth, especially scouts, in the plantation drive.


“We have set a whopping target of planting over 540 million plants all over the country during the spring season spread over February to April under PM Imran Khan’s Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme,” Aslam said.

Sharing the details of the plantation campaign, the PM’s aide said that 194 million plants would be planted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province followed by 140 million in Sindh province, 74 million in Punjab, 13.5 million in Balochistan, 98.7 million in AJK and 20.64 million in Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The February-April season provides an unprecedented opportunity to plant as many trees as possible all over the country for dealing with various environmental problems, Aslam said. He urged that “all-out efforts should be taken to take full benefit from the ongoing spring season by planting saplings on a large-scale in the country. Because this is the second major season after monsoon when the soil is ready after receiving good winter rains to let the seedling grow fast and hold their grip on soil strongly.”


Noting that Pakistan is a highly climate-vulnerable country, Aslam stressed the importance of the forest in its efforts to cope with climate risks, particularly floods, torrential rains, desertification, sea-level rise and heatwaves, which have become increasingly frequent due to global warming.

Plant for Pakistan day
Prime Minister Imran Khan is expected to kick-start the spring tree plantation campaign on February 22, marked annually as ‘Plant for Pakistan day’. Nearly 4 million saplings will be planted tomorrow across the country and 12.2 million plants would be made available at various plantation sites all over the country for the general public.

As many as 674 events have been planned on Tuesday to encourage the general public to take part in the plantation campaign. Around 750,000 members of the Pakistan Boy Scout Association would join the plantation campaign during the current spring season. The tree plantation programme would be a learning opportunity to get the residents involved in the environment and conservation of natural resources, officials said.

Pakistan: University adopts several steps to reduce carbon emissions
NED University of Engineering & Technology in Karachi to only allow bicycles on campus

https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/pakistan-university-adopts...

Karachi: One of the biggest and oldest engineering universities in Pakistan, the NED University of Engineering & Technology in Karachi, will only allow the use of bicycles by the students, faculty, and staff on its sprawling campus every Friday in an effort to make it a carbon-neutral venue.

Vice-Chancellor of NED University Prof Dr Sarosh Hashmat Lodi stated this as he was one of the keynote speakers at the Annual Environment Conference organized here at a hotel by National Forum for Environment & Health.

He said that only bicycles would be allowed to be used inside the campus when the university would formally resume academic activities from October 19th, 2020 after the coronavirus emergency.

He said that a number of environment friendly measures were being adopted by his university to make its campus a carbon-neutral venue by the year 2021 in connection with the centennial celebrations of its foundation.


Tree plantation
He said that extensive tree plantation, use of energy efficient appliances, energy conservation, reduction in carbon emissions with lesser use of fossil fuel, and greater reliance on renewable resources of energy would be some of the measures being adopted by the university to make its campus a carbon-neutral venue. The NED University has around 12,000 students and over 500 faculty-members as offsetting the Carbon Dioxide emissions on the campus is a major challenge.

Also speaking on the occasion, Sindh Forests and Wildlife Secretary Abdul Rahim Soomro said that tree plantation carried out along the Lyari Expressway in Karachi from Mauripur Bridge was the first successful scheme of urban forest in the province that is now visible to everyone. He said that urban forest schemes were also pursued at the University of Karachi, Shah Faisal Colony, Thaddo Dam in Gadap, areas of Karachi and at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro.

Major issue
He said that encroachment of the forest land was a major issue pertaining to his department as 1,39,000 acres of such forest area had been retrieved in the province from the encroachers. He said that forests had been regenerated on 40,000 acres area of Sindh. He said that tree plantation had been carried out along total 350 kilometres length of different roads and highways in the province.

Soomro said that services of up to 25 female forest officers of Sindh Forests Department had been utilized for a social mobilization campaign as they had been going to different schools to give lectures to students on the importance of greenery and tree plantation.

Sindh Information and Forests Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah informed the audience that Sindh government’s drive to grow mangrove forests along the coastal belt of the province had been recognized at the 2019 United Nations’ Climate Change Conference 2019 in Madrid where Pakistan was represented by Prime Minister’s Adviser on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam. He said that this international recognition of the forestry drive of the Sindh government was a big achievement as the campaign to increase green cover in the province would continue in accordance with the global standards.

Chinese envoy sees big prospects of Sino-Pak partnership in renewables

https://pakobserver.net/chinese-envoy-sees-big-prospects-of-sino-pa...


Chinese Consul General in Karachi Li Bijian, while speaking as the chief guest at a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony here, he said for achieving sustained development goals (SDGs) China had made huge progress in green energy as this was future of the world.

China had largest renewable energy resources and cutting-edge equipment and machinery. Pakistan was also making every possible effort for conversion to green energy. It had big potential of renewable energy with Sindh’s better position in solar.

The memorandum of understanding was signed between Chinese Solar Energy Zonergy Company Limited-Pakistan and Altamash General Hospital, Karachi to install 351 KV solar energy plants to feed Altamash’s three health facilities in the city; with expected completion period of three months.

AGH’s Director Dr. Emad Altamash and CEO of Zonergy Company Limited (Pakistan) Xu Hong Chang signed the agreement, which was witnessed by Chairman of Altamash Group, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Altamash, Chairperson of AGH, Dr. Shahina Altamash and Chinese Consul General in Karachi, Li Bijian.

Chinese Consul General said, “I am very impressed by the quality and quantum of medical equipment at Altamash General Hospital.”

He acknowledged Altamash’s health services to the humanity, especially to low income group people. Today, he said, Altamash Group had taken a step forward for conversion to renewable energy.

Being the fastest and tested friends, and big partners in various social and economic sectors, under CPEC China and Pakistan were also increasing their cooperation and partnership in energy sector especially in renewables, which was the only future solution.

For last couple of decades, the two countries had been working together in energy sector i.e. solar, wind and coal power generation.

“My government is committed for renewables,” he reaffirmed.

He described Zonergy as one of leading solar energy companies of China and appreciated the company’s contribution in promoting green energy. During a media chat there, Chinese diplomat congratulated Pakistanis on celebrating their “Pakistan Resolution Day “ and successfully holding great event of two-day OIC Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Islamabad.—APP

Oracle Power in Joint Venture for #Pakistan Green #Hydrogen. Oracle will invest in, develop & run a facility to produce green hydrogen in #Sindh, using #renewable energy sources. Kaheel Energy is 100% owned by Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum of #UAE. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oracle-power-enters-joint-venture...

Oracle Power PLC said Wednesday that it has agreed to a joint venture with Kaheel Energy FZE to advance its green hydrogen project in Pakistan.

The AIM-listed power and natural-resource project developer--which is currently developing a coal mine and power-plant project in Pakistan--said the joint venture company, Oracle Energy Ltd., will be funded on a 70:30 basis by Kaheel and Oracle.

The company said Oracle Energy will invest in, develop and operate a facility which will produce green hydrogen in the province of Sindh.

Green hydrogen is produced using renewable energy sources.

Kaheel Energy is 100% owned by Sheikh Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, the company said.

"The parties involved will use their combined industry influence, and further build their technical expertise, to move the project forward at pace. Importantly, this joint venture structure materially de-risks the development process for Oracle Power shareholders whilst ensuring we maintain exposure to this potentially highly valuable initiative," Chief Executive Naheed Memon said.

Shares at 0758 GMT were up 0.03 pence, or 8.1%, at 0.40 pence.

#Solar #Pakistan Expo #Lahore: Sungrow launches 2 key products: Ultra-powerful SG350HX and brand-new generation 3-phase C&I #inverter SG125CX onsite, which can better explore Pakistan's tremendous potential to generate #power from #renewable sources. http://en.ce.cn/Insight/202203/31/t20220331_37451929.shtml

Besides, the solar power giant a 100MW contract with its reliable partner Energy for You, furthering its commitment to renewable energy and fueling the national transition to a low carbon economy.


Pakistan is a perfect place to develop solar power due to its high levels of solar irradiation, and the government also enacts Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan 2021-2030 to facilitate the renewable energy transition. Up to now, 60 percent of Pakistan’s electricity comes from expensive imported fossil fuels and coal. Expanding renewable energy can help Pakistan save about US$ 5 billion in the next two decades. Beyond that, the development of the PV industry has excellent natural conditions in Pakistan, for instance, solar irradiance in Pakistan is 5.3 kWh/m2/day, which means inexhaustible resource for PV power generation. “To help meet Pakistan's targets of clean and green energy, Sungrow expands its cooperation capacity with local distributors to better empower small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the emerging residential users. The upcoming 100MW sales contract helps provide more clean power for local users in Pakistan,” said Howard Fu, Country Director of Sungrow Pakistan, in an interview with Gwadar Pro.

Since entering the Pakistan market in 2015, Sungrow has made great contributions to the development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It provided inverters for the Zonergy 900MW Solar Power Project, as well as Pakistan's largest cement plant and first plant energy storage system. In 2020, Sungrow won the bid for the photovoltaic construction project of the Presidential Palace of Pakistan to install PV products for the presidential office. At present, it has established a good cooperative relationship with the Pakistani government and many local power enterprises. Sungrow will spare no effort to contribute to CPEC.

Under the project, a 150 MW floating solar subproject will be deployed in the Ghazi Barrage headpond and another floating project of similar capacity at the Forebay of the existing Ghazi Barotha Hydropower plant. The project would greatly enhance the electricity supply and help meet the rising demand for electricity in the country.

https://www.globalvillagespace.com/world-bank-wapda-to-setup-pakist...

Currently, according to the National Electric Power Regulator Authority state industry report 2021, Pakistan’s total installed electricity generation capacity is 143,588 GWH, of which a measly 4,521 GWH is produced by renewable sources such as solar and wind. Thermal sources account for 61.76 percent, whereas Hydel sources account for 27.02 percent. A shift toward renewable sources of energy was long pending and is a major component of Pakistan’s vision 2050.

The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) plans to take on the Floating Solar Project (FSP or the Project) and, in that effort, seeks financing from the World Bank. Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority has prepared a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP), and according to a report by Business Recorder, it is engaged in meetings with the World Bank to establish a 300 MW floating solar project in the country.

A delegation from the World Bank is expected to reach Pakistan today for a ten-day visit, for the initial assessment and evaluation of the project. The World Bank delegation will meet with all the relevant authorities and stakeholders, such as the Ministry of Water Resources, Water and Power Development Authority, and the Economic Affairs Division. After the visit, the World Bank mission would generate a feasibility report of the project, which would detail the proposed financing and the expected Return on Investment (ROI) in the following period.

The World Bank team includes but is not limited to; Gunjan Gautam (Senior Energy Specialist and Task Team Leader), Rikard Liden (Lead Energy Specialist and co-Task Team Leader), Imran ul Haq (Senior Social Development Specialist), Sana Ahmad (Environmental Specialist), Uzma Sadaf (Sr Procurement Specialist), Shafiq Hussain (Procurement Specialist), Noureen LNU (Financial Management Specialist), Mohammad Omar Khalid (Senior Consultant) to be supported by Amna W Mir (Senior Program Associate).

The World Bank mission is expected to hold a meeting with the project management unit of WAPDA on the 22 April in Islamabad. Following which, it is scheduled to meet with the officials of the Water Resources Ministry on 23 April. The mission would also listen to briefings and partake in discussion sessions with the relevant authorities.
According to the initial assessment conducted by the Water and Power Distribution Authority of Pakistan, the project is expected to strengthen the capacity of WAPDA as it increases the supply of electricity by financing 300 MW floating solar subprojects in water body of the already existing project of the Ghazi-Barotha complex.

Pakistan: Experts stress shifting to coal for energy needs

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2353970/experts-stress-shifting-to-coa...


Power sector experts have emphasised upon Pakistan to push harder for utilisation of lignite - an economical alternative to imported furnace oil and RLNG (re-gasified liquefied natural gas) - as it is crucial for the country’s ambition to achieve higher economic growth through industrialisation.

Besides industrialisation, provision of electricity to domestic consumers by using local coal reserves could serve the purpose of generating cheap electricity and curbing the ever increasing circular debt in the power sector, they added. They were of the view that the incumbent coalition government, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, inherited fiscally unsustainable circular debt of nearly Rs2.5 trillion and lofty subsidies on energy prices, as well as re-surging blackouts despite surplus generation capacity. Electricity at current price is not affordable for businesses and residential consumers.

According to the government, the electricity generation cost rose by over 66% in March compared to a year ago because of the surging global energy prices.

The generation cost has surged 66.2% to Rs9.22 kWh in March this year from Rs5.55 kWh a year ago owing to spike in imported fossil fuel prices.

“Pakistan should now focus on local coal reserves for power generation as an alternate to imported fuel and coal given that its cost is much cheaper than the imported coal,” emphasised Sino-Sindh Resources Deputy CEO Chaudhary Abdul Qayyum.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Qayyum said that the local coal prices were not sensitive to international price fluctuations.

“Local coal at Thar is available for as low as $40 per ton and with rise in mine scaling, its prices will fall further to $30 a ton,” he pointed out.

“The best thing is that the government has to pay the price in local currency.”

Currently, around 16 million tons of coal is being imported by Pakistan to operate four power plants, Qayyum said adding that if these plants had been running on local coal, massive amounts of foreign exchange could have been saved by the country besides generation of cheap electricity.

He underlined that the recent commodity cycle had witnessed imported coal prices going up to $420-470 a ton from $100-120 a ton, making imported coal even more expensive than residual fuel oil (RFO) for power production.

Global Coal Production Capacity Rose in 2021

https://earth.org/global-coal-production-capacity-rose-in-2021/


Natural gas shortage and China’s energy crisis have driven global coal plant production capacity to surge last year, undercutting global net zero efforts.

—

The global capacity of coal power plants rose by nearly 1% in 2021 as the world recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic and increased attention on energy security, according to a report by a US environmental group Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

The research found that global coal plant capacity grew 18.2 gigawatts to about 2,100 GW or about 0.87% last year.

“It’s up by a small number,” said Flora Champenois, a GEM research analyst. “But it comes at a time when the world needs a dramatic fall in capacity, not any rise.”

The small spike can be attributed to a number of new coal plants that opened in China, which just about offset all the coal plant closures around the world in a global effort to cut down greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming.

China, the world’s top emitter, has pledged to carbon peak by 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. But the country has recently turned back to coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, due to its domestic energy crisis. To ensure power and heating supply for its residents, China has been increasing coal production capacity and built more than triple the amount of new coal power capacity as the rest of the world combined.

At the same time, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put the issue of energy security at the centre of the global stage, where countries including Germany have been reconsidering turning to coal again – instead of relying on nuclear power like the UK – to compensate for Russia’s natural gas.

Global demand for coal has been on the rise. In 2021, the world generated more electricity from coal than ever before, increasing 9% from the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Total coal consumption, which covers electricity generation and industrial uses, is also expected to grow by another 2% in 2022. The IEA projects the high levels will likely last through to at least 2024, which is at least 3 billion tons higher than a scenario reaching net zero by 2050.

The latest IPCC climate report warns that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 and be to halved by the end of the decade for a chance to limit global warming to 1.5C.

Despite rising inflation, coal will also likely remain to be one of the relatively cheapest fuels available, according to Bloomberg. However, there has been some positive trends. The report highlighted how capacity of global coal plants being built in 2021 decreased by 13%, dropping from 525 GW in 2020 to 457 GW.

#India’s extreme #heatwave is thwarting #Modi’s plan to “feed the world”. India is experiencing relentless heat waves for the 2nd month in a row. This has now begun to wilt the country’s #agriculture sector, especially #wheat production. #ClimateEmergency https://qz.com/india/2160187/indias-heat-wave-will-impact-modis-whe...

India has been experiencing relentless heat waves for the second month in a row. This has now begun to wilt the country’s agriculture sector, especially wheat production.

A low yield, coupled with rising food inflation, would force the government to prioritise domestic consumption over exports, potentially tripping up prime minister Narendra Modi’s recent offer to help feed the world.

Wheat Can’t Catch a Break Right Now
India’s giant heat wave is having ripple effects for the world’s food supply.

By Robinson Meyer

https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/05/india-pakistan-...

For the past few days, a heat wave of mind-boggling scale and intensity has gripped South Asia. More than 1 billion people in India and Pakistan have endured daytime highs of 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Delhi, the world’s second-largest city, has suffered through back-to-back days of 110-degree Fahrenheit heat. And Nawabshah, Pakistan—a city of nearly 230,000 people in the country’s desert south—came within half a degree of 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), the temperature at which the human body starts to cook.

The heat wave has a horrific human cost. Dozens of people have died of heatstroke, according to reports from NPR. It will have a climate cost. Although only the richest Indians own air conditioners, electricity demand is so high that the country is planning to import additional coal to keep its power grid alive.

The heat wave will also have an economic cost—one that will ripple beyond the subcontinent. As I’ve written about before, the world is suffering through a shortage of crucial commodities, including keystone cereal crops such as wheat. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it scrambled an already strained global wheat market—Russia is the world’s largest wheat exporter; Ukraine, the world’s sixth largest—and sent prices soaring. India, which has enjoyed five straight years of record wheat crops, jumped in and offered to export more than usual.

The heat wave has, for now, thrown those plans into doubt. Some Indian farmers have estimated that 10 to 15 percent of their crop has died, according to Monika Tothova, an economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency. But it’s too early to know exactly how the heat wave will shape the crop.

Food shortages and rising grain prices can bend the trajectory of history. Some commentators assert they played an outsize role in the Arab Spring revolutions a decade ago. (Other experts disagree.) I have had a hard time keeping track of the many story lines involved in the current crunch, so earlier this week, I called Tothova to chat about why food prices are so high, how much climate change is to blame, and what might happen next. Here are a few takeaways from our conversation:

1. India will still probably have excess wheat. The only question is how much.

India’s biggest annual wheat crop is the rabi, which is planted from October to December and harvested in the early spring, Tothova told me. In each of the past five years, India has achieved record-breaking wheat production during its rabi season. It was on track for another bumper year when the heat wave struck.

The country got a little lucky on timing. In southern and central India, the rabi has already been harvested or is being gathered now. But big questions remain about the health of wheat in northern India, the country’s most productive region, where the crop remains largely unharvested and has therefore been baking in the searing heat. “The heat itself will not hurt the grain,” Tothova said. What agronomists worry about instead, she said, is a phenomenon called “terminal heat stress,” where extreme heat overtaxes the plant and prevents it from forming any grain at all.

If much of northern India’s wheat had yet to form its grain before the heat wave began, the effects could be severe. Northern India also drives most of the variation in India’s wheat crop: When the rabi has a bumper year, it’s because northern India boomed. Climate change actually contributed to that recent bump in a small but positive way. There’s more irrigation in northern fields now than there used to be, Tothova said, because melting glaciers in the Himalayas have increased river flow into the country. (Of course, now farmers are feeling the other side of that coin.)

Karot Hydropower connects unit one to national grid. It is a 720 MW plant constructed on river Jhelum, #Pakistan , in collaboration with one of the largest state-owned #Chinese power companies, #China Three Gorges Corporation. #CPEC Global Village Space

https://www.globalvillagespace.com/karot-hydropower-connects-unit-o...


Pakistan’s first Hydel power generation project – Karot Hydropower – under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) connected unit one to the national grid on 30 April, kick-starting the operations at full capacity, reported Developing Pakistan, a Pakistan based digital media platform. By connecting unit one of the Karot Hydropower, the project pumps 180 MW of electricity into the national grid. Karot Hydropower Project is a 720 MW constructed on river Jhelum, Pakistan, in collaboration with one of the largest state-owned Chinese power companies, the China Three Gorges Corporation, more commonly known as the CTG. The rest of the three units will be connected to the national grid in the upcoming months.

The project’s financial close was achieved in March 2017, and construction work began the same year. The mechanical, electrical, and other technical works of the project were completed around February 2022, and internal testing began in the same month. Work pertaining to transmitting power to the national grid was mostly completed by January however was not completed till April 30. The project is the first of three hydropower projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor, and the estimated cost to get the plant operational stands at around $1.42 billion. According to the Managing Director of the Private Power and Infrastructure Board, the other two include “the 870MW Sukhi Kenari HPP and 1,124MW Kohala HPP.” Work on Sukhi Kerani is underway, whereas the construction of the Kohala Hydropower Project is yet to be initiated. The Kohala HPP is also being constructed on the Jhelum river, and a tripartite agreement was signed for its construction in June 2020; however, due to tax issues, the work on the construction site of the said river has still not begun.

It is pertinent to mention that according to the National Electric Power Regulator Authority state industry report 2021, Hydel sources of electricity generation account for 27.02 percent of the country’s electricity, significantly more than any other source except for thermal.

Separately, to address the energy demands of the country, Pakistani authorities have also engaged the World Bank to facilitate the set up of a 300 MW floating solar project at the Tarbela – Ghazi Barotha complex. The project’s projected cost is proposed to be around $346.5 million. Under the project, a 150 MW floating solar subproject will be deployed in the Ghazi Barrage headpond and another floating project of similar capacity at the Forebay of the existing Ghazi Barotha Hydropower plant. The project would greatly enhance the electricity supply and help meet the rising demand for electricity in a climate-smart manner.

A crucial bridge in northern Pakistan collapsed on 7 May after a glacial lake outburst.

https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/05/10/pakistan-bridge-is-swept-...

This was caused by a recent heatwave, which released huge amounts of water into the stream and surrounding areas, local media reported.

Experts are saying the water volume at the Shisper glacier lake had increased by 40 per cent over the past 20 days due to unusually high and abrupt temperature rises in the north of the country.


Pakistan recorded its hottest April in decades with Jacobabad touching 49C.

They also added that rapidly melting glaciers have created more than 3,000 glacial lakes in the northern areas and 33 could burst soon. This would send torrents of water coursing through streams, which is very dangerous.

In Hassanabad, local officials helped those affected and ensured that people were not stranded due to the flooding.

“A compact bridge would be temporarily installed to restore traffic,” while construction of a permanent bridge would take about seven to eight months, National Highway Authority chair Muhammad Khurram Agha said, according to Gulf News.

Traffic was diverted to an alternate route and heavy transport vehicles were barred.

There has been no loss of life, officials said.

#Bloomberg Plans $242 Million #Investment in Clean #Energy to fund programs in #Bangladesh, #Brazil, #Colombia, #Kenya, #Mozambique, #Nigeria, #Pakistan, #SouthAfrica, #Turkey and #Vietnam. Success in these 10 nations will persuade others. #renewableenergy https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/climate/michael-bloomberg-climat...

Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, will announce a $242 million effort on Tuesday to promote clean energy in 10 developing countries.

The investment is part of Mr. Bloomberg’s push, announced last year, to shut down coal production in 25 countries and builds on his $500 million campaign to close every coal-fired power plant in the United States. The announcement is tied to a gathering this week in Rwanda hosted by Sustainable Energy for All, an international group working to increase access to electricity in the global south.

The money will fund programs in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey and Vietnam. Representatives of Bloomberg Philanthropies and partner organizations, including Sustainable Energy for All and the ClimateWorks Foundation, said they would work with local governments and businesses to develop spending plans.

Helen Mountford, the president and chief executive of ClimateWorks, said that specific ways Mr. Bloomberg’s money could be spent include research and analysis, public education campaigns, clean energy pilot programs and buyout payments to close existing coal plants.

“Which strategies are appropriate for each country will really be guided by the in-country partners who know them best,” Ms. Mountford said. “The first approach is to identify the relevant strategies per country and to start to identify who can help to deliver those and move those forward and get the funding to the ground.”

Success in the 10 nations would demonstrate to other countries that renewable energy can help, not hinder, economic growth, Mr. Bloomberg said in an interview by email. “The alternative is to meet growing energy needs by burning more coal, which would have disastrous consequences for public health and for the battle against climate change,” he said.

Climate campaigns tend to focus on industrialized countries, which are responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions. But many developing countries have rapidly growing populations and economies, and rapidly increasing energy needs. How nations meet those needs will be a major factor in whether the world can decarbonize fast enough to avoid the worst consequences of a warming planet.

Developing countries “haven’t reached their peak in the amount of energy they actually need,” said Damilola Ogunbiyi, chief executive of Sustainable Energy for All. “We have a unique opportunity to drive that energy source being renewable from the start instead of going back again in another 30 years and try and transition them out of unsustainable sources of power.”

#Climatechange boosted odds of record #heat in #Pakistan and #India. Key farming areas in India are expected to see a 10 to 35% decrease in #crop #yields due to #heatwave, driving up local market #prices & reducing global #wheat supplies. #Modi #wheatban https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2022/05/23/india-pakistan-he...

The extreme heat experienced by India and Pakistan in March and April was the most intense, widespread and persistent in the region’s recorded history. A study released Monday finds that human-caused climate change had made this historic event at least 30 times as likely. It determined that climate change elevated temperatures of the heat wave by about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (one degree Celsius) compared to pre-industrial times.

“What was particularly exceptional and particularly unusual was how early it started,” Friederike Otto, co-author of the study, said in a news conference on Monday.

India experienced its highest March temperatures in 122 years, and Pakistan and northwestern and central India endured their hottest April. Numerous all-time and monthly temperature records were broken across both countries. Over the two months, extreme heat affected nearly 70 percent of India and 30 percent of Pakistan.


This heat event would have been “highly, highly unlikely” in a world without climate change, said Arpita Mondal, a co-author and professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.

The heat took an enormous toll on people throughout the region. Workers were no longer able to work full days outside, putting a strain on their livelihoods and the economy. Key farming areas in India are expected to see a 10 to 35 percent decrease in crop yields due to the heat wave, driving up local market prices and reducing global wheat supplies at a time when supplies are already under stress because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hundreds of forest fires also burned across India. In Pakistan, snowmelt caused a glacial lake to flood and wipe out a key bridge.

Across the two countries, at least 90 deaths have been tied to the heat.

The analysis was conducted by the group World Weather Attribution, which uses computer modeling to investigate the links between ongoing weather events and climate change. The team ran simulations using 20 different models with and without the effects of human-induced climate change to determine the effect of rising temperatures on the magnitude of the heat. The results, which are not yet peer-reviewed, come from well-established methodologies that have been used in past analyses, including one conducted on the 2021 Pacific Northwest heat wave.

----------------

“We have studied many heat waves, and in all cases but one climate change was clearly assessed as the main driver of the change in the likelihood,” said Robert Vautard, director of the Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute in France and co-author of several studies with World Weather Attribution.

Northern India and Pakistan face another round of heat later this week. After some relatively cool weather the next several days, temperatures are forecast to rise several degrees above average Friday into the weekend.

#India ramps up #coal production & consumption amid record-setting #HeatWaves, although #Modi pledged to be a leader in #renewableenergy. #FossilFuels #Solar #Wind #climate #COP26 #BJP #energy #economy https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/28/india-coal-power-cl...


But India has installed less than 100 gigawatts of solar and wind power so far, and most Indian analysts say the 175 gigawatt goal is beyond reach this year.

Had India stuck to its pledge on renewables, it would not have faced a power shortage this spring, according to estimates from the Climate Risk Horizons consultancy in New Delhi. Even on April 29, when Delhi reached 110 degrees — the second-highest temperature for that month in 70 years — and peak electricity demand hit a record high, India could have met the need had it been on track to install 160 gigawatts of solar and wind power by the end of the year, said Ashish Fernandes, the consultancy’s chief executive.

-------

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has long touted his vision of turning India into a leader in renewable energy. Recent weeks have revealed a more complicated reality.

In the past month, as India broiled under a historic heat wave and consumed a record amount of electricity for cooling, the Coal Ministry announced it would reopen old mines and increase output by 100 million tons. As cities went into rolling blackouts because of electricity shortages, the Power Ministry ordered plants that burn imported coal to run at full capacity.

The environment ministry has given coal mines permission to boost production by up to 50 percent without seeking new permits, according to a May 7 memo. The memo attributed the relaxed environmental regulations to “huge pressure on domestic coal supply in the country” and said “all efforts are being made to meet the demand of coal.”

The developments highlight the persistent, even growing, reliance on coal in the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases — and one of the foremost victims of climate change.

Although analysts acknowledge that India faces a genuine dilemma in how to meet its soaring energy demands, many say the government is sending mixed policy signals by promoting coal mining and power generation as it trumpets its green ambitions on the international stage. In the run-up to the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Modi pledged to install 175 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2022. He later raised that target to 450 gigawatts by 2030.

Is Pakistan paying attention to existential environment crises?
Pakistan is facing an acute water shortage and climate change is damaging crops. The public health system, meanwhile, is in a disarray. To deal with these challenges, the country's authorities need long-term planning.

https://www.dw.com/en/is-pakistan-paying-attention-to-existential-e...

Pakistan is facing an acute water shortage, with experts saying the country would run out of water by 2040 if the authorities don't take long-term measures to deal with the problem.

The recent heat wave has damaged crops and caused food shortages in the country. It comes at a time when the Islamic nation has yet to fully recover from the COVID pandemic and its devastating toll on the public health sector and economy.

Experts say that degradation of natural resources, soil erosion, deforestation, unbridled and unplanned urbanization and contamination of ground water are some of the many serious issues that need immediate attention from the government.

Tariq Banuri, a leading environmental expert, believes that the most crucial challenges for Pakistan include the impacts of climate change — floods, heat waves, drought, crop losses and diseases — whose frequency has increased rapidly over the past couple of decades.

"Air pollution has also emerged as a big problem in large parts of the country, affecting health as well as transport and mobility, while water pollution is killing thousands of people every year. Around 80% of Pakistan's population do not have access to clean drinking water," he told DW.

Water crisis
Researchers predict that Pakistan is on its way to becoming the most water-stressed country in the region by the year 2040.

According to a 2018 report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan ranked third in the world among countries facing acute water shortage. Reports by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) also warn the authorities that the South Asian country will reach absolute water scarcity by 2025.

In 2016, PCRWR reported that Pakistan touched the "water stress line" in 1990 and crossed the "water scarcity line" in 2005. If this situation persists, Pakistan is likely to face an acute water shortage or a drought-like situation in the near future, according to PCRWR, which is affiliated with the nation's Ministry of Science and Technology.

Pakistan has the world's fourth-highest rate of water use. Its water intensity rate — the amount of water, in cubic meters, used per unit of GDP — is the world's highest.

Environmental degradation
Environment specialist Rahat Jabeen writes in a World Bank blog that every year Pakistan loses almost 27,000 hectares of natural forest area, explaining that almost three-quarters of the country's population use forest resources for a lack of alternative energy resources.

Pakistan is among the top ten countries in the world that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, according to Mome Saleem, an environmental activist.

"The agriculture land is being used for housing projects, which has resulted in the loss of trees and extreme heat waves. No attention is being paid to depleting water, which is already scarce," she added.

"Pakistan must have at least 25% of the forest cover, but we are also not doing well on this front. The government is not preventing the cutting down of trees, which is happening on a massive scale. A dilapidated public transport system and low-quality fuel cause a significant rise in carbon, but unfortunately the government is not taking measures to mitigate the hazard," she added.

Economic toll
All this is taking a huge toll on the economy. According to a report by Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, the annual monetary cost of environmental degradation alone is equivalent to around 4.3% of GDP.

Is Pakistan paying attention to existential environment crises?
Pakistan is facing an acute water shortage and climate change is damaging crops. The public health system, meanwhile, is in a disarray. To deal with these challenges, the country's authorities need long-term planning.

https://www.dw.com/en/is-pakistan-paying-attention-to-existential-e...


Economic toll
All this is taking a huge toll on the economy. According to a report by Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission, the annual monetary cost of environmental degradation alone is equivalent to around 4.3% of GDP.

Hasan Abbas, an Islamabad-based expert, criticizes the authorities for not paying proper attention to environmental problems.

Saleem says that despite the fact that Pakistan ranks 142 on the environment performance indicator, the government has not taken concrete actions to deal with the challenges.

Saleem believes the reason behind the negligence to such existential crises is its fixation on economic growth.

Abbas is of the opinion that Pakistan needs a green economic model. "Scrap all big hydro-power and coal-power projects. We need to switch to wind and solar power, which are viable for countries like Pakistan," he suggested.

Kishwar Zehra, a government official, says it is easier said than done. "Pakistan is already under huge debts. It cannot overcome these challenges without assistance from the international community. And this assistance should not be in the form of loans; we should be given [financial] aid to deal with them," she said.

What is happening to Pakistan’s green stimulus?
New climate change minister Sherry Rehman has given her assurance that Pakistan will remain serious about conservation.

https://www.eco-business.com/news/what-is-happening-to-pakistans-gr...

Wajahat Shah, 32, is a labourer at a government-run tree plantation, spread over 3,000 hectares of army land in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. “Ten days after the government announced the lockdown due to coronavirus, I had to close my grocery shop,” Shah told The Third Pole.

The plantation is part of the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme, the flagship initiative of the recently ousted Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government. The project has been a lifesaver for up to 85,000 residents like Shah, Mohammad Usman Khan, a forest officer, said.

Before Covid-19, Shah earned as much as 25,000 Pakistani rupees (USD 129) a month from his shop. Now, his work at the plantation gives him PKR 15,000 (USD 77), and he also receives a small monthly rent from his shop, which is being run by someone else.

“I know this is much less, but our family of three has fewer needs [now]; I also prefer working outdoors,” he said, adding that this way he gets time to study for his bachelor’s degree.

However, forest officer Khan admitted that turning 3,000 hectares of barren army land into an oasis, growing olive, ziziphus lotus, rosewood, acacia trees and more, is too big a task for the 50 labourers the plantation employs. The government’s hands, he explained, were tied due to lack of funds.

The area – 32 kilometres from Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – has plenty of water, with groundwater drawn from solar-powered tubewells, but not enough manpower. “We should have at least eight labourers for every 40 hectares,” said Khan, adding that it may not be possible to green the area without more staff.

A ‘booster dose’ for conservation
Pakistan’s Green Stimulus, a USD 120 million loan from the World Bank, was conceived as a “booster dose” for this and similar nature-based projects, said former minister for climate change, Malik Amin Aslam, using a Covid-19 analogy.

The money, originally earmarked for a project by the Pakistan Meteorological Department, was redirected to nature restoration in response to hardship created by Covid-19, Aslam said.

Speaking to The Third Pole on 29 April following Imran Khan’s removal as prime minister, he said he feared the package may face delays.

These “nature-positive funds” Aslam said, referring to the Green Stimulus package, were “literally within arm’s reach”, with the first tranche to be released by 15 April. “The first phase was ready for rollout – when we ourselves got prematurely rolled out!” he rued.

Pakistan’s Green Stimulus fits within the scope of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, a framework focused on reversing ecosystem loss to fight the climate crisis. It “was meant to protect nature and give green jobs to thousands of people including youth and women”, Aslam explained.

Now with Pakistan in political turmoil, Aslam feared that “all efforts to protect nature and give green jobs may well go down the drain”.

New minister wants to continue Pakistan’s green stimulus
Aslam’s concerns may be unfounded. Sherry Rehman, the new climate change minister, told The Third Pole that the grant will remain available to Pakistan. The World Bank, she explained, is supporting the country, not a particular administration under a certain party, so the agreement still stands.

The Third Pole contacted the World Bank about the status of the loan; a reply had not been received at the time of publication.

What is happening to Pakistan’s green stimulus?
New climate change minister Sherry Rehman has given her assurance that Pakistan will remain serious about conservation.

https://www.eco-business.com/news/what-is-happening-to-pakistans-gr...

According to the agreement, a body called the National Disaster & Risk Management Fund will receive the funds and distribute them to various departments. Eleven projects have already been vetted and approved by the bank.

“The MoCC [Ministry of Climate Change] would like to continue with [the Green Stimulus] initiative and adopt any course correction in future if necessary,” Rehman said.

Upon taking office, however, she was expecting the ministry to be more than “a single project implementation department” dedicated solely to planting trees.

“[The MoCC] is essentially a policy ministry, not a project implementation department,” she pointed out, detailing her vision of the climate change ministry, which includes policy design, monitoring provinces and engaging internationally with the global community to press Pakistan’s case as a low net polluter.

But above all, Rehman said, “[the ministry] needs Pakistan to engage in a public conversation on conservation and climate goals through state and community action”.

She noted the absence of a climate communication cell at the ministry, as well as the fact that the federal secretary’s post remains vacant. And when it comes to gender, she added, “institutional frameworks in Pakistan are inadvertently designed to preserve inequity”.

The Climate Council, a forum where representatives for the provinces meet to discuss and cooperate on frameworks for climate action, has been dormant with not a single meeting held in the past four years, she added. “All this needs to change,” she said.

Acknowledging that Rehman would have a “good idea” of the country’s needs and priorities on the climate front, Aslam cautioned that “implementation and focus” require political ownership and the understanding and backing needed at the highest level “may be missing in this administration”.

Domestic reform is the new priority
Aslam said adopting the “two-pronged approach of using clean energy transition and nature-based solutions” is essential. Reversing targets set by the previous government, he warned, will not only have ecological but economic and social consequences that Pakistan can ill afford.

He said he hoped the present government “can comprehend this and take the logical way forward towards climate compatible development”.

However, Rehman commented that she worried that Pakistan has been put in a “commitment trap” where, at the international level, “it has promised far more than it can even measure, let alone deliver”.

“While commitments to lower emissions were made abroad, no infrastructure or institutional reform was attempted at home for a genuine energy transition,” she pointed out.

And despite the “existential” nature of the crisis, no awareness was built either at a policymaking or a community level. “No work or public messaging on water deficits were made,” said Rehman, even though Pakistan will be water-scarce by 2025, according to the UN. “It seems that climate solutions have been reduced to tree plantation only.”

A new low: India is last in environmental performance index for 2022

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-ranks-lowest-in-environme...

---------

Pakistan Rank 176 EPI Score 24.60 Ten Year Change 1.40

India Rank 180 EPI Score 18.90 Ten Year Change -0.60

Bangladesh Rank 177 EPI Score 23.10 Ten Year Change -1.90

https://epi.yale.edu/epi-results/2022/component/epi

https://epi.yale.edu/epi-results/2022/country/pak

------------

As per EPI estimates, only a handful of countries, including Denmark and the United Kingdom, are on track to meet net zero emission goals by 2050. Nations such as China, India, and Russia are headed towards the wrong direction with rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions.

India scored the lowest among 180 countries in the 2022 Environment Performance Index (EPI), an analysis by researchers of Yale and Columbia University which provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world. The EPI ranks 180 countries on 40 performance indicators including climate change, environmental public health, biodiversity, among others.

India ranked at the bottom with a total score of 18.9, while Denmark was the top scorer as the world’s most sustainable country.

“…For the overall performance and ranking EPI, each country’s performance is viewed across numerous (18) categories like ecosystem vitality, biodiversity and habitat, ecosystem services and grassland loss. Unfortunately, India is consistently ranking either at the bottom or close to the bottom in almost all the categories, both regionally and globally," as per a statement by EPI.

“This is fundamentally a question of the development model and pathways we want to pursue and the lifestyles that we as citizens want to adopt. Destroying the environment and nature in the name of ‘development’ should no longer be the path, whatever might be the justification. Such an approach is just not tenable any more," said Ravi Chellam, CEO, Metastring Foundation & Coordinator, Biodiversity Collaborative.

The United States placed at the 20th spot of the 22 wealthy democracies in the global west and 43rd overall. The relatively low ranking reflects the rollback of environmental protections during the Trump administration. “The withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and weakened methane emission rules meant that US lost time to mitigate climate change while many of its peers in the developed world enacted policies to significantly reduce their greenhouse emissions."

The conclusions from the EPI analysis suggest that efficient policy results are directly associated with GDP per capita. The economic prosperity makes it possible for the nations to invest in policies and programs that help lead desirable outcomes.

For the pursuit of economic prosperity manifested in industrialisation and urbanisation, trends that pose climate change strains ecosystem vitality, especially in the developing world where air and water emissions remain significant.

Data suggests, according to EPI, that developing countries do not have to sacrifice sustainability for economic security. The steps taken for climate action initiated by policymakers and stakeholders in leading countries demonstrate that focused attention can mobilise communities to protect natural resources and human well being.

India Calls Environment Index 'Unscientific'; 'Rankings Based on Performance,' Says Lead Author
This year, India is ranked lowest, at 180.

https://thewire.in/environment/rankings-based-on-performance-says-l...

The EPI, released on June 6, was put together by a group of scientists from institutes including the universities of Yale and Columbia. It analyses 40 performance indicators, such as particulate matter levels and projected greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), across 11 categories (including air quality and climate change mitigation).

The scientists then use this to rank the 180 countries on their “progress toward improving environmental health, protecting ecosystem vitality and mitigating climate change”. According to the EPI report, its methodology has been refined over two decades and it builds on the most recent data.

Analysis of the EPI data demonstrates that financial resources, good governance, human development, and regulatory quality matter in elevating a country’s sustainability, it noted.

This year, India is ranked lowest, at 180, with an EPI score of just 18.9 (on a scale of 0 to 100).

“Based on the latest scientific insights and environmental data, India ranks at the bottom of all countries in the 2022 EPI, with low scores across a range of critical issues,” the report reads. “Deteriorating air quality and rapidly rising greenhouse gas emissions pose especially urgent challenges.”

The EPI data also indicates that India is one of the four countries – apart from China, the United States and Russia – that will account for over 50% of residual global greenhouse gas emissions in 2050, if current trends hold. “A total of 24 countries will be responsible for nearly 80% of 2050 emissions unless decision-makers strengthen climate policies and emissions trajectories change,” the EPI report noted.

‘Based on surmises and unscientific methods’

In a press release on June 8, the Union environment ministry said it “does not accept” the Index’s analysis and conclusions for several reasons, including changes in methodology.

According to the Ministry, ‘Projected GHG Emissions levels in 2050’ is a new indicator that the EPI, 2022 uses. However, it takes into account only the average rate of change in emissions over the last decade, and does not incorporate aspects such as the extent of renewable energy capacity.

India’s data on forests and wetlands – which are crucial carbon sinks – has not been factored into the Index while computing the projected greenhouse gas emissions trajectory up to 2050. India’s historical data on emissions – which is low compared to developed countries, most of which rank high in the EPI 2022 – has also not been considered, said the Ministry.

Moreover, the weight of indicators in which the country was performing well have been reduced and reasons for the change in assignment of weights has not been explained in the report, the Ministry alleged.

“For example, new parameters have changed the weightage given to climate policy as an objective. Similarly, the ecosystem vitality policy objective’s weightage has [been] reduced from 60% to 42% in the total EPI,” the ministry claims, saying that these changes in methodology have contributed to India’s dismal rank compared to previous iterations.

“The Environmental Performance Index, 2022, released recently, has many indicators based on unfounded assumptions. Some of these indicators used for assessing performance are extrapolated and based on surmises and unscientific methods,” the Union environment ministry said in the release.

India Calls Environment Index 'Unscientific'; 'Rankings Based on Performance,' Says Lead Author
This year, India is ranked lowest, at 180.

https://thewire.in/environment/rankings-based-on-performance-says-l...

According to the Ministry, the Index also uses “outdated” data. The Ministry had requested that the EPI refer to the India State of Forests Report (ISFR 2021) for the latest data on biodiversity variables, but this has not been done, the ministry said. Ironically, experts have raised questions about the methodology used in the ISFR 2021, which may show India to be more forested than it really is.

Collaborating with, learning from peers

The EPI, however, has always based rankings on existing country performance and not on historical emissions or climate policy intent, clarified lead author of the Index, Martin Wolf, principal investigator at the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy, in an email to The Wire.

The goal of the EPI is to “inform current policy choices, not place blame on countries for contributing to climate change or destroying the environment,” he said. In fact, the best use of the EPI is to compare countries to their peers; for example, it is useful to compare India to other major developing countries, like China, he added.

“Although they are not perfectly analogous, these two countries have things to learn from each other. India may be able to borrow some policies China has enacted to improve air quality, while China can learn from India about many issues, like sustainable fisheries and wetland conservation. The hope is that with data-driven analyses like the EPI, countries will be able to collaborate with their peers to improve their country’s environmental performance,” Wolf said.

Similarly, with every iteration, the EPI adjusts the weights given to indicators to reflect a balanced scorecard, clarified Wolf. “We do not adjust weights to punish certain countries. Rather, we choose weights such that all issues are reflected in a country’s overall ranking.”

The EPI recognises the “shortcomings” of the new greenhouse gas emissions trajectories, and hopes to incorporate additional nuances in future iterations of the report, Wolf added. However, even with factoring in carbon sinks, China, India, the United States, and Russia are not on track to meet the climate targets outlined by the 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact.

“Efforts and plans to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere is not a substitute for reducing emissions in the first place,” Wolf told The Wire.

“The EPI looks forward to collaborating with the Indian government and the Ministry as we work to improve our analyses, elevate India’s environmental performance, and put the world on track for a happier and healthier future,” he said.

#Karachi’s newly opened MagnifiScience Center has a high-tech centerpiece with a living #mangrove forest exhibit. Mangroves are powerful natural tools to reduce #ClimateCrisis risks and protect ourselves from the impacts that are already here. #Pakistan https://time.com/6189898/mangrove-trees-pakistan-climate/

In what’s left of Karachi’s original mangrove swamps, one of the museum exhibit’s designers is documenting, in forensic detail, the piecemeal destruction of a once pristine forest for his weekly social media dispatch. “There are days out here when you can’t hear a single bird because the chainsaws are so loud,” Tariq Qaiser murmurs into his iPhone with a David Attenborough cadence as he pans the camera over a clear-cut swath of stump-studded silt. Just a few weeks ago, he continues, “the tree canopy was overhead, and the light filtered through as if you were in a cathedral. Now …” He shakes his head mutely as he steers his small boat past a pile of cut branches destined for the city’s back-alley firewood markets and charcoal kilns.

Pakistan’s Indus River Delta is home to hundreds of thousands of acres of mangroves, and the country boasts one of the most successful mangrove reforestation projects in the world. But only a few remain in the economic capital of Karachi, where 16 million residents are corralled onto low-lying spits of land, many of which have been reclaimed from the sea. Qaiser, an architect of some renown, with thick gray hair, horn-rimmed glasses, and a late-middle-age paunch he attributes to COVID-enforced inactivity, has spent the past half decade fighting for the protection and expansion of a small patch of mangroves rooted at the tip of a tidal island directly facing some of Karachi’s most valuable land.

Developers envision landfilling Bundal Island, linking it to the mainland via a causeway, and turning it into prime real estate for an ever expanding city. Qaiser sees the island as the terrestrial incarnation of Abdullah Shah Ghazi, the patron Sufi saint of Karachi, who protects the city from storms, disease, and hunger. “I don’t want to fight with the developers,” Qaiser says. “But I do want them to think about the future of this city.” In a congested metropolis already plagued by the urban heat-island effect, in which endless expanses of concrete buildings and paved roads amplify the already sweltering temperatures by several degrees, trees are a threatened resource. Mangroves, says Qaiser, “are our air-conditioning, our oxygen supply. If you just increase the mangrove cover, Karachi’s next 30 years will be much better than if you build over them.”

The world will be better as well. By sequestering carbon, mangroves help slow climate change. They also protect locals against some of its effects, like rising sea levels and increasingly severe storms. Qaiser’s quest to save Karachi’s last intact mangrove forest comes against the backdrop of a growing global movement to preserve those that remain and replace what has been lost. In this battle, his weapon of choice is a series of short, stunning nature videos filmed in and around Karachi’s mangroves. He disseminates them weekly via Whats-App to some 2,000 contacts, and urges his followers to share widely. And they do. At 197 and counting, his 90-second dispatches (the maximum allowed by WhatsApp) have raised awareness among the urban elite, and have in some instances spurred officials to act, sending in security to stop illegal woodcutters. But in a city where land is at a premium, development is the bigger threat. Keeping Bundal Island intact means educating a new generation of Karachiites about the value of not just the mangroves but the entire surrounding ecosystem. That was the impetus behind the museum’s mangrove exhibit, says Qaiser. The problem is that by the time the schoolkids are in a position to make any decisions, it might be too late—not for Pakistan’s mangroves, which are flourishing, but for Karachi’s, which are not.

Sindh govt plans to launch floating solar power project on Keenjhar Lake
Solar panels to generate 500MW of electricity after two years

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2365112/sindh-govt-plans-to-launch-flo...

"Work on the feasibility report of the project is in full swing and it is hoped that the project will start generating electricity in two years time after going through the approval stages," said Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh, adding that Go Company, which was working on the project, was expected to invest US$400 million in the project.

The energy minister’s statement came during his talk with officials from power companies.

He said that this was a unique floating solar power plant project for Pakistan which would not only provide 500 MW of environmentally friendly electricity but would also create employment opportunities in the province.

"Keenjhar Lake will promote tourism and help in controlling load shedding," he added.

Imtiaz Shaikh said that the 500 MW eco-friendly power project was another milestone of the achievements of the Sindh government.

In recent months, Pakistan has seen efforts to increase the instalment and use of solar panels. The government worked towards a comprehensive solar energy package comprising tax waivers and concessionary loans for consumers in a bid to overcome the prolonged power outages that have stalled life in the country.

The solar package would include a short-term plan for shifting government offices to solar energy. It involves the preparation of a plan for helping small consumers to switch over to solar energy with the help of subsidies or concessionary loans.

The government is also planning to waive the general sales tax on all the components used in generating solar energy.

The energy task force, chaired by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, reviewed the solar power plan in a recent meeting. The prime minister constituted the task force on solar energy initiatives with a vision to promote sustainable and green energy.

Pakistan's depleted #mangroves cover in Arabian Sea growing 'rapidly'. Between 1999-2021, the mangrove area along #Pakistan’s 1,050-kilometer (652-mile) coastline has increased to over 494,000 acres from over a 113,000 acres. #Climate #GlobalWarming
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2367726/pakistans-depleted-mangrove-co...

KARACHI:
Pakistan's mangrove cover has seen rapid expansion along the Arabian Sea over the past two decades due to coordinated efforts by government agencies and environmental organizations.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the eve of the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, which is celebrated on July 26 every year, Tahir Rasheed, a regional director of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Pakistan, said that in Southeast Asia, Pakistan is the only country where mangrove cover has increased dramatically over the last two decades.

Between 1999-2021, the vulnerable mangrove area along Pakistan’s 1,050-kilometer (652-mile) coastline has increased to over 200,000 hectares (over 494,000 acres) from 46,000 hectares (over a 113,000 acres).

A colossal chunk of mangrove forest falls in southern Sindh province, whereas southwestern Balochistan province, which boasts a 700-kilometer (435-mile) coastline, shares a meager portion of nearly 4,000 hectares.

“We witnessed a decline of mangrove forest from 600,000 hectares along the Sindh coastline in the early 20th century to merely 46,000 hectares in the mid-1980s. However, the cover area of mangroves has increased to over 200,000 hectares along the Sindh and Balochistan coastline over the past two decades,” Rasheed said.

Due to the “well-coordinated” plantation and rehabilitation campaigns by the Sindh Forest Department the federal government, WWF-Pakistan, and civil society organizations, the country’s mangrove cover is increasing at a “good pace,” he went on to say.

A host of projects by WWF-Pakistan alone have contributed 16,000 hectares to the country’s overall mangrove cover, apart from the rehabilitation of 32,000 hectares, he added.

Danger still lurking

Mangroves, a group of trees and shrubs that grow in the intertidal regions of tropical and subtropical coastlines, are significantly important for ecosystems and are considered the first line of defense against cyclones, strong surges, tsunamis, and other natural calamities.

The Sindh coast, particularly the port city of Karachi, has been reeling from a relentless process of morphological changes mainly due to anthropogenic activities including industrial pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, rapid industrialization, urbanization, and land degradation in addition to natural processes.

Industrial and economic infrastructure development, land-grabbing and inhabitation along the coast, and the construction of huts at beaches have adversely impacted the marine ecosystems and mangroves of the adjoining creeks, say environmentalists.

Making matters worse, some natural phenomena such as high energy waves, tidal currents, and strong winds during monsoons have also influenced changes along the coast.

Acknowledging a “rapid” increase in mangrove cover in the country, Hammad Gilani, a Lahore-based environmentalist, nonetheless observed that the danger is still lurking.

“Mangroves along Pakistan’s coastal belt and Indus Delta are still facing two key threats in the form of sea intrusion and degradation,” Gilani, a researcher at the International Water Management Institute in Lahore, told Anadolu Agency.

“Deforestation (of mangroves) is not a big problem. But degradation, which includes some justifiable livestock needs, is really an issue,” he argued.

He noted that rising sea levels have long been wreaking havoc on mangroves, especially in the Indus Delta, from where the Indus River flows into the Arabian Sea.

Also, mangroves require a systematic flow of fresh water, which unfortunately does not persist at the moment, he said.

Pakistan's depleted #mangroves cover in Arabian Sea growing 'rapidly'. Between 1999-2021, the mangrove area along #Pakistan’s 1,050-kilometer (652-mile) coastline has increased to over 494,000 acres from over a 113,000 acres. #Climate #GlobalWarming
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2367726/pakistans-depleted-mangrove-co...


Also, mangroves require a systematic flow of fresh water, which unfortunately does not persist at the moment, he said.

Gilani noted that the South Asian country has seen a rapid augmentation in mangrove cover after the 2010 massive floods, which, although inundating a fifth of Pakistan, made up for a freshwater shortage.

Sharing a similar view, Rasheed said: "To keep the momentum going, we have to create awareness among the masses, and especially the policymakers, about the environmental significance of the mangroves and reinforce how important they are as the threat is not over yet."

Bulwark against sea battering

Thick mangroves have long protected Karachi and its coastal communities from erosion caused by the Arabian Sea's unending waves, observed Shabina Faraz, a Karachi-based expert, who often writes on the environment.

However, she added, the fragile ecosystem faces numerous threats, from coastal development, urbanization, and encroachment to the commercial exploitation of mangroves, reduction of freshwater flows and sedimentation, erosion of coastal areas, chemical dumping, and raw sewage.

"Karachi city alone contributes 500 million gallons of untreated water to the sea. Apart from that, polluted water from 6,000 industries also contributes high-impact pollutants to the Arabian sea that negatively affect the mangrove ecosystem and marine fauna," she maintained, speaking to Anadolu Agency.

Gilani, the Lahore-based expert, said that despite an increasing mangrove cover, satellite imagery has punctuated the need for national-scale carbon sequestration reporting for a performance-based payment mechanism flowing from developed countries to developing ones.

Seconding his view, Faraz said carbon sequestration reporting could add to the national economy "significantly."

Forests lose ground around Karachi

Tariq Alexander Qaiser, a Karachi-based environmentalist, said that although the mangrove cover on the wider delta was increasing, mature forests around Karachi have been pushed back.

Urban expansion into the estuaries and intertidal lands where the mangroves are found has had a negative environmental impact, he observed.

He said serious urban flooding had resulted from construction on flood plains, whereas water outflow into the sea had also been constricted, he told Anadolu Agency.

The dying of the plants' roots holding together the mud and sand on the islands and coast, Qaiser said, has allowed sands to shift and islands to erode.

This results in greater dredging needs, and increases costs of operating ports, he maintained.

"The removal of mangrove cover from the coastline also leaves the city vulnerable to sea surges and tsunamis. This has a serious impact on human life and safety."

According to Qaiser, the deltas' mangrove cover is expanding, but the situation is "very different" on the islands and shores of the cities, especially Karachi.

He explained that these "most mature and tallest of the forests" were being cut down due to poverty and the need for fuel.

The only way to retain this very necessary forest cover is to create and enforce a nature reserve on Karachi's Islands, Qaiser argued, adding that the metropolis, home to 20 million people, needed this oxygen-producing wilderness to maintain some control over its air quality.

"We need to keep planting new mangrove forests, but equally important is the need to protect the forests that exist. Especially on the islands of Karachi."

#Pakistanis plant #trees to provide relief from scorching sun. There are neem saplings and vegetables sprouting up from scrubland in the #Clifton district of #Pakistan's largest city #Karachi. #ClimateCrisis #heatwave #floods #fires via @reuterspictures https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/pakistanis-plant-trees-to-prov...

Mulazim Hussain is proud of the trees he has planted.

Surrounded by neem saplings and vegetables sprouting up from scrubland in the Clifton district of Pakistan's largest city Karachi, the 61-year-old recalls a time a few years ago when the area was a giant, informal rubbish tip.

"Now there is greenery and happiness, children come in the evening to play, people come to walk," he said, speaking near a patch of trees amid a barren expanse bordered by the sea on one side and tower blocks and offices in the distance on the other.

"I have raised these plants like my children over the last four years," he added, taking a break from his labours amid a fierce summer heatwave.

Wearing a white and brown scarf around his head and a loose, cream-coloured shirt, Hussain collected dry grass from the ground and watered his cherished trees during a recent visit by Reuters reporters to the urban forest plantation project.

At the end of the day, he turned the hose on himself to cool off and clean up before heading home on his motorcycle.

The father of two is employed by an urban afforestation project in a government-owned park in Karachi's upmarket Clifton area that is run by Shahzad Qureshi, who has worked on similar projects in other Pakistani cities and overseas.

It is one of dozens of state-owned and private planting initiatives in Pakistan, where forest cover lags far behind average levels across South Asia. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, emissions of which contribute to warming global temperatures.

The aim in Clifton is to counterbalance rapid urbanisation in Karachi, a sprawling port city of some 17 million people where breakneck expansion of roads and buildings means there is less and less space for trees and parkland.

Qureshi wanted to provide shade for residents seeking escape from rising temperatures - a heatwave in 2015 killed more than 400 people in the city in three days, and temperatures in the surrounding Sindh region reached record highs this year.

The trees can also attract local wildlife, mitigate urban flooding and provide new sources of food.


"The bigger the tree cover of the city the more the cooling, with a difference of up to 10 (degrees) Celsius when you are surrounded by trees," he told Reuters, adding that the project only used native species.

"As you plant ... it attracts insects, and varieties of birds start coming. Presently mongoose are roaming around in the park, and four or five varieties of chameleon.

"You give them a home, you give them food and let it happen. Nature is so beautiful."

DOES PLANTING HELP?

Overall forest cover in Pakistan, home to more than 220 million people, is around 5.4%, according to Syed Kamran Hussain, manager for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province at the World Wide Fund for Nature's national branch.


That compares with 24% in neighbouring India and 14.5% in Bangladesh, and the previous government announced a mass forestation programme that envisaged planting 10 billion trees between 2019 and 2023.

"Pakistan is among the top 10 most vulnerable countries affected by global warming," Hussain said. "After oceans, trees are the second largest sink of carbon."

Some climate change experts question the impact of afforestation projects - the planting of trees where there were none before - in urban settings.

#Pakistanis plant #trees to provide relief from scorching sun. There are neem saplings and vegetables sprouting up from scrubland in the #Clifton district of #Pakistan's largest city #Karachi. #ClimateCrisis #heatwave #floods #fires via @reuterspictures https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/pakistanis-plant-trees-to-prov...


Some climate change experts question the impact of afforestation projects - the planting of trees where there were none before - in urban settings.

The choice of species is important, because it affects the amount saplings may need to be watered - a major factor in Pakistan where water is generally scarce.

And whether to plant trees at all is not a simple question: the benefits are not always clear and significant investment is needed to nurture saplings into fully grown trees.

"What is missing from urban forestry is a holistic approach to the environment," said Usman Ashraf, a doctoral researcher in development studies at the University of Helsinki. He was not commenting specifically on the Karachi project.

"It's about visual success, the numbers, small patches here and there," he said. "It won't even make a dent on any of the environmental harm in these cities."

Masood Lohar, who founded the Clifton Urban Forest that has planted trees on the beach front not far from Qureshi's project, said afforestation could help make Karachi more resilient against natural disasters and encourage wildlife to settle.

Experts say it can also provide relief from heatwaves, with the sea breeze getting hotter as it passes through concrete structures while roadways and rooftops absorb heat. Where to plant is a key question, with wealthier urban areas often better off in terms of tree cover.

In the absence of more trees, "we are turning the city into hell", Lohar said.

In the Sakhi Hassan Graveyard in the centre of the city, small saplings grow among uneven tombstones crammed close together, while larger trees offer shade from the midday sun.

Mohammad Jahangir, 35, is a caretaker there who waters the plants for a small cash donation from relatives who seeded them. Viewed from above, the graveyard is a sea of green that stands out against a low-rise neighbourhood.

"We don't feel the heat here in the graveyard, while the city sizzles," said Jahangir. "These trees are a blessing."

(Photo Editing Gabrielle Fonseca Johnson and Kezia Levitas; Additional Reporting Gloria Dickie in London; Writing Mike Collett-White; Text Editing Alison Williams; Layout Eve Watling)

Tree Plantation: 8.8 Mln Saplings Would Be Planted

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/tree-plantation-88-mln-saplin...


A total of 8.8 million saplings would be planted in four districts of the division during current tree plantation campaign.

This was stated by Divisional Commissioner Dr Irshad Ahmad while inaugurating tree plantation campaign by planting a sapling in the lawn of his office here on Sunday. Additional Commissioner Coordination Fareed Ahmad, Conservator of Forests Niaz Muhammad, Divisional Officer of Forests Nisar Khan and ACR Ghazala Kanwal and others were also present.

The Commissioner said that the forest department would plant 5.4 saplings, while private organizations would plant 2 million saplings, Pakistan Army would plant 1.2 million and other departments would also plant 0.

2 million saplings in the division.

Divisional Officer, Forest ,Nisar Khan briefed the Commissioner that on the Independence Day (August 14) 30,000 saplings would be planted in four districts in which 10,000 saplings would be planted in Sargodha and 5,000 in other three districts each, while the forest department would also distribute 1500 saplings to citizens free of cost, he added.

The Commissioner Dr Irshad Ahmad highlighted that trees were imperative to counter environmental pollution, in addition to combating climate changes. "Therefore, the nation should take part actively in the tree plantation campaign to plant maximum trees in greater national interest", he added.

How Pakistan emerged as a climate champion
A country not known for leadership at home provides some abroad

https://www.economist.com/asia/2022/11/24/how-pakistan-emerged-as-a...

Pakistan is not often praised for its leadership. Yet its climate change minister, Sherry Rehman, was one of the star turns at the un climate talks held in Sharm el-Sheikh last week. At the helm of the “g77+China” negotiating group of developing countries, Ms Rehman won plaudits for shepherding a new deal to channel money from rich countries to poor ones that have suffered climate-related disasters. It was the annual climate jamboree’s single main achievement.

Ms Rehman, a former journalist, information minister and ambassador to America, blends well-heeled glamour and toughness. A rare champion of Pakistani liberalism, the 61-year-old Karachiite is known for her fights against honour killings and the country’s cruel blasphemy laws. They have earned her multiple death threats. She also bears scars from a suicide blast aimed at her friend Benazir Bhutto (the former prime minister survived that jihadist attack, but not one weeks later). By comparison, the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh must have seemed like the holiday camp that the Egyptian town usually is.

Yet Ms Rehman was also assisted by the fact that the massive floods Pakistan suffered this year, costing an estimated $30bn in damages, are one of the biggest climate-related disasters on record. They gave moral authority to her argument that poor countries should receive “loss and damage” funds from the rich countries whose emissions have contributed to such calamities. A study attributes the engorged monsoon floods in part to global warming. Yet Pakistan is responsible for less than 1% of the stock of global emissions.

Pakistani environmental activists, a subset of the country’s embattled liberal campaigners, hope Ms Rehman’s triumph will stir more climate action back home. It had been modestly increasing before the floods—with, for example, a few cases in which activists sued the government for neglecting its environmental commitments. Yet Pakistan’s climate change ministry is vastly underfunded. Just $43m were allocated to it this year from a federal budget of $47bn. A proposed national climate change authority has yet to be formed, five years after a law was passed to facilitate it. Pakistan, which experiences some of the hottest temperatures on Earth, has only just begun serious work on a national adaptation plan.

The floods helped publicise such shortcomings. Pakistan’s few climate experts were suddenly hot property on the country’s news channels. But will that focus be maintained? As the government scrambles to provide flood relief, it is giving little thought to climate-proofing against future disasters. Before the floods, Ms Rehman was pushing a $11bn-17bn initiative to regenerate the Indus river that supports the livelihoods, indirectly or directly, of over 200m people. But funds that might have been earmarked for the programme are now going on flood relief.

The heightened global attention she has brought to Pakistan’s flood losses could attract a lot more money and relevant expertise. That could make the country a poster child not only for loss-and-damage activism but, more usefully, for long-term planning and climate resilience. There is a precedent for this. After a devastating cyclone in 1970 Bangladesh built one of the world’s best disaster preparedness schemes. A tragic, likelier scenario would see the momentum generated by Pakistan’s calamity and Ms Rehman’s astute diplomacy lost in a protracted relief effort and Pakistan’s usual obsessions with politics and scandal. At least, until the floodwaters rise again.■

Green investment on rise, Pakistan to get 30 % renewable energy - Pakistan Observer

https://pakobserver.net/green-investment-on-rise-pakistan-to-get-30...


Until now, renewable energy sources make up a very minor fraction of Pakistan’s overall power generation mix. According to a recent report of the National Electric Power Regulatovry Authority, the installed capacity for wind and solar accounts for roughly 4.2% (1,831 MW) and 1.4% (630 MW) of a total of 43,775 MW, respectively.

China is already the biggest investor in green energy in Pakistan. Currently, out of the $144 million in foreign investment in solar PV plants in Pakistan, $125 million is from China, accounting for nearly 87% of the total.

Thanks to Chinese investments, a few weeks ago Federal Power Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan inaugurated two new wind energy projects in Jhimpir, Thatta District, Sindh, with an aim to produce cheaper and clean electricity through indigenous energy sources. Wind projects in this region have been one of several renewable energy projects to have received Chinese investment in recent years. Around 90 kilometers from Karachi, Jhimpir is the heartland of the country’s largest ‘Wind corridor’, which has the potential to produce 11,000 megawatts (MW) of energy from green resources.

Indus River diverted at Dasu hydropower project site
Stage-I of the project likely to start electricity generation in 2026


https://tribune.com.pk/story/2402059/indus-river-diverted-at-dasu-h...

Indus River was successfully diverted following the completion of one of the two diversion tunnels at the under-construction Dasu hydropower project in Kohistan District, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

Instead of its natural course, the river is now flowing through a 1.33-kilometre (Km) long diversion tunnel with a 20-metre (m) width and 23-m height.

Consequently, construction activities have been initiated on the starter dam, leading toward the construction of the main dam of the Dasu hydropower project.

The diversion of the mighty river was witnessed by the general manager and project director of the project, representatives of contractors and consultants, along with a number of engineers and workers.

Meanwhile, Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Lt General (retd) Sajjad Ghani congratulated the project management on achieving this milestone.

The diversion system of the Dasu hydropower project comprises two tunnels – tunnel A and tunnel B. Of these, the latter is complete, which has the discharge capacity, sufficient to divert the water from Indus River during the current lean-flows season.

The 1.5-km long tunnel A, with a 20-m width and 23-m height, will also be ready by mid-April this year to cater to the increased water flows during the high-flow season.

The project is a vital component of the least-cost, green and clean energy generation plan of WAPDA.

The 4320 MW-Dasu hydropower project is planned to be completed in two stages.

At present, WAPDA is constructing its stage-I with an installed generation capacity of 2160 MW and annual energy generation of 12 billion units and is likely to start electricity generation in 2026.

The 2160 MW stage-II, when implemented, will also provide nine billion units to the national grid.

On the completion of both stages, Dasu will become a project with the highest annual energy generation in Pakistan (ie 21 billion units per annum on average).

Pakistan Expanding Nuclear Plant With New Hualong One Reactor

https://www.powermag.com/pakistan-expanding-nuclear-plant-with-new-...


By Darrell Proctor is a senior associate editor for POWER (@POWERmagazine).

China continues to be a world leader in exporting its nuclear power technology. Chinese officials in Pakistan on June 20 signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a $4.8 billion deal with Pakistan’s nuclear energy agency for construction of a new 1,200-MW reactor at the Chashma power complex.

The new unit will be China’s Hualong One, or HPR1000, pressurized water reactor technology.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the country considers China its “most dependable ally.” Sharif, whose country is in the midst of an economic crisis and looking for outside investment in its energy sector, said construction of the Chashma 5 project, located in Punjab province, would begin immediately.

The Chashma complex has four CNP-300 reactors currently in operation, each with 325 MW of generation capacity. The units were developed by China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC). The first unit came online in 1991; the other units entered commercial operation in 2011, 2016, and 2017, respectively.

Chashma 5 will be built by CNNC subsidiary CNNC China Zhongyuan Engineering Corp., the company said.

Chinese officials recently announced that an HPR1000 has also been proposed for construction at the Bradwell site in the UK. Britain’s Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency said they have started a second, technical, phase of the assessment program for the HPR1000.

Chinese Investment
Sharif, speaking Tuesday on Pakistan’s state-run news channel PTV after the signing of the MOU between the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission and Chinese officials, said, “Investment from China in this project to the tune of $4.8 billion sends a message loud and clear that Pakistan is a place where Chinese companies and investors continue to show their trust and faith.”

The prime minister originally brokered the project during his time as chief minister of Punjab, an office he held three times, most recently from 2013 to 2018. He was elected as Pakistan’s prime minister in April 2022.

Sharif has supported nuclear power as a way to move Pakistan away from fossil fuels. Its most recent nuclear facility, the 2,200-MW Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, also known as KANUPP, in the southern port city of Karachi, commissioned its two reactors in 2021 and 2022, respectively. That facility, featuring two Hualong One Generation III pressurized water reactors, also was built with financial backing from China.

Sharif on Tuesday said the Chashma 5 project was originally planned to start in 2021. He said Chinese officials did not raise the cost of the project from original estimates despite the delay. Officials on Tuesday said China has to date disbursed 30 billion Pakistani rupees ($104.53 million) to start the project.

“We are deeply obliged to [China] President Xi Jinping, and the Chinese leadership for their generous help to Pakistan,” Sharif said. He also recognized Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar for extending financial support to Pakistan’s government.

Pakistan for years has contended with power outages. Two of the worst incidents occurred in January 2021, and again in January of this year. In 2021, a fault at a power plant brought down the national grid, leading to calls for a massive overhaul of the country’s electricity transmission infrastructure.

A nationwide power outage on Jan. 30 of this year impacted all of Pakistan’s major cities and left millions of people without electricity.

China Begins Construction of Pakistan's Largest Nuclear Power Plant

https://www.voanews.com/a/china-begins-construction-of-pakistan-s-l...


Pakistan held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday for what will be its largest civil nuclear power plant — constructed by China — that will contribute 1,200 megawatts of electricity daily to the national grid and is estimated to cost at least $3.5 billion.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and senior Chinese officials attended the televised event in the central city of Chashma, dubbed the birthplace of China-Pakistan nuclear energy cooperation.

Over the past 30 years, Beijing has installed four nuclear power generation units in Chashma, collectively generating about 1,300 megawatts, with China providing enriched uranium for fuel.

"This mutual cooperation to promote clean, efficient, and comparatively cheaper energy is a gift of friendship between the two countries and a model for other countries to emulate," Sharif said at the ceremony.

The plant, known as Chashma-5, or C-5, will feature what China says is its domestically developed third-generation pressurized water nuclear technology, the Hualong One or HPR1000, with "advanced safety and foolproof security features."

Raja Ali Raza, the head of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, said the nuclear plant project will be completed by 2030.

"C-5 will be Pakistan's largest generation-III plus nuclear power project," Raza said. "This project has brought PAEC one step closer to its envisaged goal of production of 8,800 megawatts electric cheap and clean energy."

Beijing has previously supplied the HPR1000 technology for two nuclear power stations, each with a 1,100-megawatt generation capacity, built and operationalized in the last couple of years in the southern port city of Karachi, enhancing Pakistan's nuclear energy production to more than 3,500 megawatts a day.

Analysts see China's accelerated civil nuclear cooperation with Pakistan as part of efforts to globally find more lucrative buyers for its HPR1000 reactors developed by state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation or CNNC, the country's second-largest nuclear power producer company.


"HPR1000 is a homegrown nuclear technology of CNNC and a flagship of China's advanced equipment manufacturing," Yu Jianfeng, the CNNC chairman, told the ceremony. He noted that more than 17 units of HPR1000 are currently under construction in China.

"Today's groundbreaking for the C-5 project is a significant milestone for HPR1000's global journey and a new start for the China-Pakistan nuclear energy cooperation," Yu stated. "Our cooperation in nuclear energy has become an integral part of the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership and a shining example of international nuclear energy cooperation."

Under its global Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing also has built and put into commercial operation 14 mostly coal-fired power plants in Pakistan in the last 10 years, with a total installed capacity of 8,000 megawatts daily.

The projects are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, which has also built road networks, highways, ports, and industrial zones with direct Chinese investment and "soft loans," expected to increase to about $62 billion by 2030 when the mega undertaking is due to be complete.

Critics blame CPEC for contributing to Pakistan's deepening economic troubles and depleting foreign exchange reserves, making it difficult for the country to catch up with its foreign debt repayments.

Pakistan owes more than $1.3 billion (350 billion rupees) to Chinese power plants. The amount keeps growing, and China has refused to defer or restructure the payment and CPEC debt repayments.

Pakistan is planting lots of mangrove forests – so why are some upset? : NPR



https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1208201179/pakistan-is-planting-lots...


KETI BANDAR, Pakistan — Wildlife ranger Mohammad Jamali boats through mangrove forests of the Indus River Delta, the terminus of a curly waterway that begins thousands of miles upstream in the Himalayas. Birds flutter in and out. Insects dart around mangrove roots that poke like fingers out of the mud. It looks ancient, but this part of the forest is only 5 years old.

"We planted this," says Jamali, 28-years-old. We — rangers of the wildlife department of the government of the southern Pakistani province of Sindh, and locals of nearby fishing communities.

This forest in southern Pakistan is part of one of the world's largest mangrove restoration projects, covering much of the vast delta, an area nearly the size of Rhode Island. These trees, which exist in slivers between sea and land, are powerhouses of sucking up the carbon dioxide that is dangerously heating up the planet.



"They do this very big job per hectare," says Catherine Lovelock, an expert on coastal ecology. Mangroves capture, or sequester, carbon dioxide "through their roots and into the soil, as well as above ground," she says.

This mangrove reforestation effort alone in the Indus Delta is expected to absorb anestimated 142 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next sixty years. It's a test case for restoration, and planting mangroves at this scale might help the fight to curb planetary warming.




----

In Pakistan, some environmentalists say without carbon credits, this massive reforestation project wouldn't have happened. They say the government was incentivized to support it. Instead of having to find the budget to do this, the government is being paid proceeds from carbon credit sales.

So far, Delta Blue Carbon has sold two batches of credits, most recently in June. It's made the provincial government around $40 million so far, according to local media outlet Arab News. It's big money in a poor country.

"It is paying money. It is generating revenue," says ecologist Rafiul Haq who consulted on the mangrove project. Haq says without that revenue stream, the government would be under pressure to let developers in, for shrimp farms or for seaside homes.

Haq says there's another benefit: auditors must evaluate the company's progress before they can sell more carbon credits, which means the mangrove forests are nurtured and protected, and the company has to show local communities are benefiting. "This is a blessing for us," Haq says. "We have to present ourselves as the good boy," he laughs.

-----------

To other environmentalists, the mangrove project is "carbon colonialism."

"I don't begrudge anyone, especially in areas like these, for taking money for large scale restoration projects like this," says Polly Hemming, director of the climate and energy program of the progressive think tank, the Australia Institute. But she says, "it's just another form of carbon colonialism. Like, we'll give you some money to restore your land," and then, sell "your credits to a polluter so they can continue emitting."



Underscoring that argument, Hemming pointed to one of the key purchasers of these carbon credits is one of the world's largest fossil fuel trading companies, Trafigura. It is also one of the world's largest traders of carbon credits. Through a spokesperson, the company declined to comment for this story.

First unit of CPEC's Suki Kinari hydropower project connected to grid in Pakistan - International Water Power

https://www.waterpowermagazine.com/news/first-unit-of-cpecs-suki-ki...

The first unit of the Suki Kinari Hydropower Project in northwest Pakistan was successfully connected to the national grid on Monday, marking a significant milestone in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative.

The project, located in the Mansehra district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is being developed by China Energy Construction Overseas Investment Company Ltd. Once fully operational, the 884MW plant will generate approximately 3.21 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, supplying affordable clean energy to over 1 million households.

Suki Kinari is expected to play a key role in addressing Pakistan’s electricity shortfall, reducing coal consumption, and lowering carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 2.52 million tons per year. Construction began in January 2017, and the facility is scheduled to become fully operational later this year.

At the heart of the Suki Kinari project are four Pelton turbine generators, each with a capacity of 221MW, collectively contributing to the total capacity of 884MW. The hydropower plant boasts a maximum net head of 922.72m and a minimum head of 845.76m.

The reservoir’s operating parameters are set with a maximum level of 2233m and a minimum level of 2223m, holding a storage capacity of 10.37 million m3 below the minimum operating level. The project also features an underground powerhouse located approximately 400m deep and a tailrace tunnel extending about 1583m.

CPEC, launched in 2013 as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, focuses on enhancing energy, transportation, and industrial infrastructure in Pakistan. The successful connection of the Suki Kinari project’s first unit to the grid is seen as a critical step toward its commercial operation.

World Bank approves $1 billion additional financing for Dasu hydropower project

https://www.hydroreview.com/business-finance/finance/world-bank-app...

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved $1 billion in a second round of additional financing for the Dasu Hydropower Stage I (DHP I) Project.

This financing will support the expansion of hydropower supply, improve access to socio-economic services for local communities, and build the Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA) capacity to prepare future hydropower projects, the World Bank said.

“Pakistan’s energy sector suffers from multiple challenges to achieving affordable, reliable, and sustainable energy,” said Najy Benhassine, World Bank country director for Pakistan. “The Dasu Hydropower Project site is one of the best hydropower sites in the world and is a game changer for the Pakistan energy sector. With a very small footprint, the DHP will contribute to ‘greening’ the energy sector and lowering the cost of electricity.”

DHP is a run-of-river project on the Indus River about 8 km from Dasu Town, the capital of the Upper Kohistan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Upon completion, it will have an installed capacity of 4,320 MW to 5,400 MW. The project is being built in stages. DHP-I has a capacity of 2,160 MW and will generate 12,225 GWh/year of low-cost renewable energy. DHP-II will add 9,260 GWh to 11,400 GWh/year from the same dam.

“DHP-I is an essential project in Pakistan’s efforts to reverse its dependence on fossil fuels and reach 60 percent renewable energy by 2031.” said Rikard Liden, task team leader for the project. “The second additional financing will facilitate the expansion of electricity supply and potentially save Pakistan an estimated $1.8 billion annually by replacing imported fuels and offset around 5 million tons of carbon dioxide. The annual economic return of DHP-I is estimated to be around 28 percent.”

The additional financing will further support ongoing socio-economic initiatives in Upper Kohistan, particularly in the areas of education, health, employment and transport. The project will also continue ongoing community development activities on roads, irrigation schemes, schools, medical facilities, mosques, bridges, solar energy systems, and science laboratories and libraries, all with a particular focus on women beneficiaries, including the establishment of free healthcare clinics/camps with women doctors/nurses, training for female health workers, training on livelihoods and literacy for women, and awareness-raising programs on health and hygiene.

Pakistan has been a member of the World Bank since 1950. Since then, the World Bank has provided over $46 billion in assistance. The current portfolio has 55 projects and a total commitment of $14.7 billion, according to a release.