New York, 26 September 2021 (TDI): The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi virtually attended the High-Level Dialogue on Energy 2021 convened by the United Nations Secretary-General. The meeting was aimed to build a global roadmap towards the achievement of SDG 7 by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood stated that sustainable energy is critical to accomplish all the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as the objectives of the Paris Agreement. He highlighted that Pakistan is aware of the significance of SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy). In this regard, he said Pakistan’s energy policy is based on three objectives that include universal access to energy, doubling the share of renewable energy, and doubling the energy efficiency rate.
Efforts are also made to expand the share of renewables of Pakistan’s energy supply mix up to 20 percent by 2025, and 30 percent by 2030. Foreign Minister also shared that two planned coal-fired power projects which were to produce 2600 megawatts of energy were canceled and replaced by hydropower projects.
He further said that Pakistan has a huge potential for renewable investment in the South Asian region. Pakistan has the potential of producing 40,000 MW of solar and wind power along with the potential of 45,000 MW in hydropower.
He expressed the concern that more efforts are needed to achieve the targets of SDG 7 by 2030. 759 million people around the world have no access to electricity, 2.6 billion people have no access to clean energy.
He said that the share of renewables is expected to increase only by 21.5 percent by 2030 at the current rate of investment. He stressed that for a transition towards the sustained model of economic prosperity, first public investment in renewable energy must be encouraged through policy decisions, and second the ways must be found to access trillions of dollars of private wealth that is earning no or low returns in investment.
Since 1981, the High-level Dialogue on Energy 2021 has been the first global gathering on energy that took place under the auspices of the UNGA.
: The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi virtually attended the High-Level Dialogue on Energy 2021 convened by the United Nations Secretary-General.){kind=link}