Pakistan to increase share of renewables to 62% in energy mix

UNITED NATIONS: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told world leaders on Wednesday that Pakistan would increase the share of renewables, including the hydropower, to 62 per cent in its energy mix by 2035.

The promise came just a day after US President Donald Trump called climate change the “greatest con job ever” and alleged that the concept of carbon footprints was “a hoax”.

“Climate change — it’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” he said. “(The) carbon footprint is a hoax made up by people with evil intentions, and they’re heading down a path of total destruction.”

Shehbaz, who was addressing the Climate Summit 2025 on the sidelines of UN General Assembly, also said, “We will increase our nuclear energy capacity to 1,200 megawatts by 2030.”

Another announcement that he made was shifting 30 per cent of public transport in the country to environment-friendly energy sources by 2030 — a promise made at a time when Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz is actively pursuing the introduction of electric buses in Punjab.

Shehbaz mentioned the devastation caused by floods and extreme weather events in Pakistan and said introduction of climate change-resistant and environment-friendly agriculture were also part of the country’s climate agenda.

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The gathering came at a time when the world’s biggest historical emitter and second biggest greenhouse gas emitter behind China, the US is currently withdrawing from the Paris Agreement — the 10-year-old climate pact that aimed to prevent global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius through national climate plans.

CHINA’S CLIMATE TARGETS

On the other hand, President Xi Jinping too announced China’s updated climate targets, saying China aims to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 7 per cent to 10 per cent by 2035 compared with the peak.

As part of China’s nationally determined contributions targets, by 2035, the country’s non-fossil energy consumption will account for more than 30 per cent of total energy consumption, Xi said in a video speech.

China will strive for its total installed capacity of wind and solar power generation to reach 3.6 billion kilowatts, more than six times the 2020 level, Xi said.

Read more: School’s out: climate change keeps Pakistan students home

‘PARIS AGREEMENT HAS MADE A DIFFERENCE’

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on all countries that are party to the Paris Agreement to set new climate plans for the year 2035 that achieve faster and deeper emission reduction cuts than they’ve already pledged.

“The Paris Agreement has made a difference,” Guterres said in prepared remarks, adding that since it was adopted in 2015, projected global temperature rise has dropped from four degrees C to 2.6 — if current national climate plans are fully implemented.

“Now, we need new plans for 2035 that go much further, much faster,” he said.