Senator Warns of Energy Crisis as Pakistan’s Gas Production Declines

News Desk

Islamabad: Pakistan’s local energy resources, gas and production are declining, and its precious foreign exchange is burdened with the heavy import bills of oil and gas, said Senator Musadik Masood Malik.

Speaking at a session, Malik stated that there is an elite capture in the energy sector where the cheapest energy produced from gas is diverted to fertiliser companies which diverts the highly expensive electricity tariff to the poor, who are voiceless.

The elite consumes one-third of the total gas produced for the manufacturing of fertiliser, whereas the decision was made to provide subsidised fertiliser to the farmers, he added.

The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) organised a consultation session on Tuesday with senators and the leadership of different political parties to mull over the country’s challenges and opportunities to shift over to clean energy for a sustainable future in the prevailing testing times of economic turmoil.

Former Special Assistants to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Malik Amin Aslam said the country has submitted an important document of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is designed after looking deep into the solutions for renewable energy solutions available for the country’s energy mix shift. These commitments are soft and could not incur penalties, but are subject to global checks on them, Aslam added.

The country is one of the lowest GHG emitters but its emissions are rising, and it can decline below the business-as-usual trajectory from its own resources. It can further reduce it by 35 per cent if it gets a climate finance of $100 billion, mentioned former SAPM.

Musadik Masood suggested that Pakistan should create its own strategic position like the Middle East, managing its energy transition on its own terms.

Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) Ubaid Chaudhary recommended that the devolution of power generation, transmission infrastructure and distribution mechanisms is the need of the hour to make the power sector more reliable and efficient.

Senator Falak Naz told that her region of Chitral is worst impacted due to climate change as an entire city in the region was washed away by floods due to glacial melt.

Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Badar Alam said that there are 30 solar and wind projects lying unimplemented since 2012, despite the fact that their letter of interest was signed by the then governments.

The political parties should join their voices and forces on such issues to hold the quarters concerned accountable for the delay in the projects impacting the entire sector and the masses at large, Badar added.

Speakers emphasised the need for a timely transition of the country’s energy mix to clean and green renewable power solutions such as solar and hydropower for a sustainable future, amid a strategic position to be maintained at the global forums negotiating on the clean energy shift.