To support the Green CPEC Alliance which aims to promote the green development of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), particularly of its energy transition

To support the Green CPEC Alliance which aims to promote the green development of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), particularly of its energy transition

Donor

TARA Foundation.

Duration

March 2022 to December 2022.

Introduction

The Green CPEC Alliance aims to green and decarbonize CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) by supporting a re-direction of Chinese infrastructure investments away from emission intense investments and towards green infrastructure projects, e.g., from coal to renewable energy, and ideally an early retirement of existing coal-fired power plants.

Over the next 3-5 years, the Green CPEC Alliance will therefore work with partners in both countries to accelerate both supply and demand for green infrastructure investments. Furthermore, the Alliance will work with relevant stakeholders (e.g., through BRIGC) to scale experiences of greening CPEC to greening the BRI.

On the supply side, the Green CPEC Alliance will focus on working with Chinese regulators, investors, and developers to improve policy development, and provide relevant connections to accelerate green investment opportunities, while providing relevant cases of successful investments. On the demand side, the Green CPEC alliance will work with stakeholders in Pakistan to build a stronger pipeline of green investment opportunities, provide relevant capacity to plan and evaluate green projects (e.g. against stranded asset risks of fossil-fuel investments) while ensuring a just transition.

Accordingly, in 3-5 years, the Alliance hopes to provide the basis for a full phase out of environmentally harmful (“red”) projects, in accordance with the Green Development Guidance for BRI projects, while accelerating particularly “green” encouraged projects and providing relevant support for non-harmful “yellow” projects Internationally, the Alliance will work together with BRIGC and other relevant stakeholders to scale experiences from the Alliance with a broader stakeholder group.

Objectives

Under this project, we aim to achieve the following:

· To build capacity on Green Financing guidelines and Sustainable development needs of Pakistan among relevant stakeholders through enhanced dialogues, communication and training workshops.

· To perform research on “Greening CPEC” and develop Green Financing Guidelines and framework for it through evidence-led research.

· To advocate the need of Greening CPEC through an extensive dialogue, along with social media campaigns, and close engagements with Embassy of People’s Republic of China in Pakistan, CPEC Authority, Chinese enterprises working on CPEC projects, Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Climate Change, as well as competent ministries and institutions in China, such as BRIGC, MEE, NDRC

Research Outcomes

The research outcomes of the project include

1. Research paper on "Greening CPEC: Green Transitions in Pakistan".

2. Research paper on "Green financing guidelines and framework for China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)".

3. Policy brief on "Key Takeaways from the Capacity Building Workshops".

4. Policy brief on "Lessons from China: The need to switch towards a greener future".

Outcomes:

1. To push the narrative of Clean Energy Transition in election manifestos of political parties through evidence led research and advocacy.
2. To advocate clean energy diplomacy with development partners, foreign governments, and financing institutions for building the regulatory and market conditions needed for a successful clean energy transition. 
3. As a flagship initiative on RE in Pakistan, develop the Annual State of Renewable Energy Report Pakistan 2022-23.
4. To analyse the techno-economic feasibilities of Industrial Decarbonization in Pakistan and identify the key enablers that can reduce emissions and bring this sector on track with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) of Pakistan.
5. To advocate the need for addressing market challenges in implementation of CTBCM and wheeling regulations that can ensure rapid offtake of RE in the Corporate Sector.

Status

On-Going