ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday said that by 2030 the country’s 60 percent energy mix would be shifted to clean electricity production through solar, wind, and hydro power.
The premier, in a letter to Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, not only expressed his delight over the Kingdom’s plan for launching “Saudi Green Initiative plantation of 10 billion trees in the Kingdom” but also shared experience of the provincial government of planting one billion trees from 2014-18.
After successfully planting one billion trees from 2014 to 2018, “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” initiative is well underway across the whole country.
“We are also expanding our protected areas – over 15 percent land and 10 percent marine area – by 2023,” he added.
The prime minister further stated that those initiatives had demonstrated that planting trees not only protected nature and restored ecosystems to fight climate change; it also expanded eco-tourism and created thousands of green jobs for the youth as well as the local communities.
Additionally, he said that the country was also committed to moving towards an energy mix that was clean and low carbon trajectory.
“We are targeting 60 percent of energy to be clean energy by 2030, which will require a major expansion of solar, wind, and hydro power generation capacity in the country,” he added.
The prime minister said that it gave him immense pleasure to extend best greetings and hoped that “Royal Highness” was in good health and safe from the pandemic, and added that he would also like to convey deep respect and warm wishes for the custodian of the two Holy Mosques, King Salman Bin Abdulaziz.
The premier added that those two initiatives – plantation of 10 billion trees in the Kingdom and its further up-scaling to 50 billion in the region as part of the Green Middle East Initiative; expansion of protected areas to more than 30 percent; protection of marine and coastal environments; and generation of 50 percent of the Kingdom’s energy from renewable by 2030 – were highly commendable.
The Kingdom’s vision closely aligns with Pakistan’s “Clean and Green Pakistan” initiative, which is investing in nature-based solutions to address climate change impacts in the country.
Pakistan cherishes its cordial and brotherly relations with the Kingdom, he said, and added that the country would like to extend its support for the Kingdom’s “Green” initiatives.
The prime minister said that the two countries maintain close cooperation on climate change issues at all multilateral forums, a meaningful and structured bilateral engagement could help advance both the countries’ shared vision and create mutually-beneficial opportunities for partnership.
“We would also be happy to share experiences, knowledge and lessons from our nature-based approaches and initiatives,” the prime minister added. The premier further stated that the challenge of climate change was one that called for greater international collaboration, and a shared aspiration for sustainable development and the world had no choice but to tread this green pathway and define a new development paradigm for the 21st century.
