According to Romina Khursheed Alam, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Convener of the Parliamentary Task Force on SDGs, the COVID-19 presented an unprecedented challenge to the international community, but it also opened a window of opportunity for green recovery and green financing, in addition to realigning commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Ms Romina was addressing a session hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute on "Implementation of Green Financing Mechanisms in Pakistan: A Case of Green Financing Tools and SBP's Green Banking Guidelines."

According to Ms Romina, Pakistan's progress toward a clean energy transition is somewhat gradual, particularly in light of unsustainable high fuel prices.

She urged think tanks to provide research assistance to legislators so that they may engage in informed deliberations and debates that would favourably influence the policy-making process.

Dr Murtaza Syed, Acting Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, stated that the central bank is aggressively seeking international financing options through organisations such as the Sustainable Banking and Finance Network and the Network for Green Financing System.

He noted that SBP is supporting green financing on a domestic level by providing financial guidelines and regulatory frameworks. Furthermore, he stated that it is providing technical assistance and capacity-building facilities to commercial banks and issued a clean energy financing scheme in 2019 that financed 1,500 projects with a capacity of 50 MW of power generation, and that the validity of this scheme has been extended until 2024.

According to Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, Executive Director of SDPI, in the middle of the economic collapse, green financing offers a potential mid-to-long-term investment opportunity to support the country's economic growth.

Source: The News

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