Faiza Tehseen

Pakistan needs a carbon exchange system to overcome the environmental impacts and the current financial crisis. The companies can easily buy and sell permits in the carbon exchange market to emit CO₂ and other greenhouse gases (GHG). This will not only help conserve the environment but also boost revenue generation and employment opportunities, and create a new value chain of work and services, former conservator and ex-secretary Sindh Forests and Wildlife Department (SFWD) Aijaz Nizamani told WealthPK. He said the Sindh government earned about PKR3.5 million in 2022, which will continue for the next 59 years. In 2023, the government again sold a few more of its carbon credits and earned better than the previous year. Now, it is necessary to plan in-kind steps across Pakistan.

Nizamani said the Sindh government’s actions to earn through carbon credit selling was a practical example for investors and must be popularised nationwide. “The carbon trading business is necessary to inject financial input into the state coffers, but all these things will show their outputs gradually and will be beneficial in the long run. “By practically contributing to the global carbon market, Pakistan’s standing in the international climate negotiations will improve. It will be a bold move to address both environmental degradation and economic challenges. However, becoming a part of the international carbon market requires a careful planning and a smart enforcement mechanism.

“Parallel to it, the socio-economic impacts of introducing such systems will largely affect the industries at both small and large scales. So, initiating the carbon market must be planned carefully to overcome the aftereffects,” he said. Speaking to WealthPK, Chief Conservator Forests, Northern Forest Region Muhammad Yousaf Khan said, “Carbon markets are becoming strong hubs of future investment and trading activities. CO₂ and GHG reduction to mitigate the environmental impacts is practically replacing the conventional business trends with lucrative financial outputs. The transition to a low-carbon economy will catalyze new work and business opportunities, especially in carbon-off-setting projects, renewable energy, adoption of green technologies, and to cope with the financial instability in developing countries like Pakistan.

Sharing more with WealthPK, he said, “To achieve the said goals in return for carbon trading, Pakistan has to build its capacity. A practical plan is necessary to present at the international forums showing the feasibility, carbon carbon-capturing capacity, carbon offsetting schemes, period of carbon storage, and a backup plan to show the initiated continuity.” He said it was not a matter of just earning through the carbon credit selling but was a serious issue that directly and indirectly addressed the existence of all life forms. For example, the CO₂/GHG bearing level of different life forms is different. Some species release it, and some species get life response in its presence. So, a balance between protection and coping with climatic issues is necessary. The target is not difficult to achieve, but awareness is needed.

The communities must be made a part of this campaign by telling them about its need, their role in increasing the danger, their duties to offset, to follow the green guidelines, and the incentives and economic benefits against all of their efforts. Only then will Pakistan be successful in establishing a carbon exchange business. “Many countries are taking serious actions to create carbon exchange systems. Pakistan can also get its share if the policymakers take it as a national responsibility and an obligation to save mankind and other life forms,” Yousaf added.

Credit: INP-WealthPk