China leading green development: Mushahid

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Committee on Defence and Chairman Pakistan China Institute Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed has said “that green is the defining element of China’s development agenda” and President Xi Jinping in COP 2015 Paris committed to carbon neutrality by 2060 and China is now emerging as a leader in the green development.

“Today China is leading the world as producer and investor in green technology and finance,” he said while addressing the Pakistan-China Institute and Sustainable Development Policy Institute-hosted conference on “The Need to Switch towards a Greener Future: Lessons from China”. The conference featured insightful speeches by parliamentarians, industry experts and representatives from think tanks.

Senator Rukhsana Zuberi chaired the sessions, while Mushahid made the keynote speech. He informed that the shift to green technology had created an additional 54 million ‘green jobs’ so far that showed the immense multifaceted potential of green development. He said China was officially at par or has taken lead from the US in green technologies, AI ad STEM due to the commitment of China to innovation and technology.

Senator Eng Rukhsana Zuberi stressed conducting energy audits to identify wasteful practices and increase the energy efficiency. She informed that after the first energy audit of the building of the Pakistan Energy Council, 35% reduction in energy consumption was achieved.

Dr Abid Q Suleri, executive director, SDPI, said: “We must recall success stories from China in tackling environmental and climate issues.” He said China successfully reduced SMOG and particularly air pollution by 60% in a short span in Beijing. He elucidated that China’s Great Green Wall in 2013-14 was another initiative. China offers a leadership model from micro to macro-level in managing resources efficiently, and addressing the growing threats of environment and climate change which Pakistan must take inspiration from. The CPEC is not limited to trade or energy rather agriculture and food security are an essential component of green CPEC and use of nature for greening is visible in various CPEC initiatives including China’s assistance to Pakistan in the form of genetically engineered seeds and rice.

Dr Zhao Baige, vice chair of the 12th NPC Foreign Affairs Committee, chair of Advisory Committee of RDI, informed that China announced in 2016 its policy for carbon neutrality and had been committed to the achievement of the policy guidelines that was the reason behind China emerging as a global leader in renewables and emission reduction. She stressed that Pakistan had immense potential for green development by promoting renewable energy. Chinese enterprises are interested in investing in green development projects in Pakistan and there is much that can be achieved with commitment, cooperation and right policies.