German scholar Dr Christoph Nedopil Wang, the director of the Green BRI Centre, has stated that despite the decline in total BRI investment in 2020 due to Covid-19, Pakistan has great potential to attract BRI investment in the renewable energy sector.
China Economic Net on Monday quoted him as having said that energy investment maintained a stable trend in the BRI investment in 2020. BRI’s investment in the first half of 2020 covered all areas. Energy investment accounted for 37.6% of the total investment. This is a continuation of the infrastructure investment focus on the “Belt and Road” initiative.
According to Dr Wang, in the energy sector investment, renewable energy shows a strong performance. The share of renewable energy in BRI energy investment has increased year by year from 19.6% in 2014, and surpassed the share of fossil energy investment in 2020.
Looking at BRI energy investments, 2020 saw a relative increase of non-fossil fuel related energy investments. While in the first 6 months of 2019 56% of energy investments were fossil fuel-related, the share dropped to 42%.
The two countries with the highest energy-related investments were Pakistan and Vietnam. Among them, $1.93 billion of China’s energy investment in Pakistan is all hydropower projects, which are invested by Power China.
He said that although Pakistan has a large amount of investment in the renewable energy sector, Pakistan has great potential to attract more investment under the “Belt and Road” initiative. “There is a huge need for renewable investments. so far, Pakistan is 30% coal, and only 4.8% truly green (that is wind and solar), 35% is hydropower”
Wang also suggested that both Pakistan and China should focus on sustainable projects that can bring returns and prepare for a better future, such as renewable energy.
Meanwhile, China will work to appropriately integrate environmental and social safeguards to improve environmental and social outcomes. “CPEC projects can support Pakistan dealing with its debt through bilateral and multilateral forums as well,” he said.
The Green BRI Centre is formulating policies and providing financial and economic research to accelerate the green development of BRI, with a focus on green finance.
The Green BRI Centre is part of the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF) and Central University of Finance and Economics (CUFE), independent think tanks located in Beijing, China.