Islamabad:Former Ambassador of Pakistan to China Naghmana Hashmi on Thursday said developing an expert-led long-term strategic energy plan and monitoring mechanism was crucial to ensure just energy access and eradicate energy poverty.
She was speaking at policy dialogue on ‘Transforming the Power Sector: Exploring the Prospects of China-Pakistan Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETPs)’, organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and Pakistan China Institute (PCI), a news release said. She expressed that by reforming economic and energy policy structure, energy access for industry and rural economies could be improved and export and economic growth could catalysed.
Head of Political and Press Section, Embassy of People’s Republic of China in Pakistan, Wang Shengjie said that energy inflation during Russia-Ukraine conflict triggered a global shift in energy policies for just and adjust energy transition. He suggested that currently Pakistan needed moderate and flexible energy policies to ensure adjust energy transition, introduce supply-side reforms, and diversify the power generation for sustainable energy supply.
He added that Biomass and Waste to Energy were overlooked areas with immense energy generation potential. Energy efficiency was essential to address the circular debt issue which was the biggest hurdle in foreign investment, he said. Senior Advisor and Research Fellow, SDPI, Dr Hassan Daud Butt highlighting the immense energy financing opportunity for BRI countries urged the government to leverage it to increase access to clean and affordable energy as well as for international financial institutions to introduce cheaper clean energy technologies in developing countries.
He added that Pakistan must address the headwinds to create a true, sustainable easy-of-doing business environment to attract foreign investors in Pakistan. Director Green Finance and Development Centre, Fudan University, Dr. Christopher Nedophil said that Pakistan was among top 5 recipients of China’s energy financing which had expanded coal-powered generation from 0.15 GW in 2015 to 7.2 GW in 2023 under CPEC, reducing import dependency and foreign exchange reserve outflows. However despite economic cost of clean energy, renewable energy transition in Pakistan is impeded by policy inconsistency and local political economy.
Executive Director, PCI, Mustafa Hyder Sayed stressed that political will, bold decision-making and concrete policy actions were crucial to catalyse clean energy transition. He further added that attracting foreign investments in energy and meeting climate and delivering on the 30% emission reduction commitments required developing technical capacity of public bodies in energy sector to formulate policies for competitive tariff structures.
© 2026 SDPI. All Rights Reserved Design & Developed by NKMIS WEB Unit
