CPEC to help Pakistan alleviate adverse effects of climate change

BEIJING: Climate change can be alleviated under China, Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), said Shen Lei, the executive secretary of China Society of Natural Resources (CSNR), a scholar of Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in an interview to Gwadar Pro.

He said, “Pakistan has committed more than its share on climate change.” At the world leaders’ climate summit on April 22, Malik Amin Aslam, assistant to the prime minister of Pakistan on climate change, promised a 60% clean energy share by 2030.

“The target is higher than expected. But, according to Shen Lei, under the CPEC, it is entirely possible for Pakistan to achieve this goal with the support of technology, investment and equipment,”that, “in the process of achieving carbon neutrality, Pakistan should strengthen energy and economic cooperation under CPEC.”

Shen added, “Pakistan is rich in clean energy resources, but the degree of development is low, and the supply and demand are seriously unbalanced. Moreover, its power grid around the country is behind with large transmission loss. Energy structure adjustment is an effective way to solve the problem of energy shortage in Pakistan.

With the increase of distributed renewable energy generation, it is very important to fully invest and upgrade the power grid for the safe accommodation of volatile clean power.”

The World Bank believes that Pakistan should add 24,000 megawatts of wind and solar power in the next 10 years, including 6,700 megawatts of wind power and 17,500 megawatts of solar power, which can save $1 billion in annual power generation costs while improving energy supply security for Pakistan.

Shen said, “Obviously, the vigorous development of clean energy will not only make a great contribution to coping with the challenge of global climate change, but also bring a lot of benefits for Pakistan to improve the ecological environment, create economic growth opportunities and improve the quality of life of residents.”