Last year, the global community, including Pakistan, had recognised the dangers of climate change and vowed via the Paris Accord to keep global temperature rise below two degree Celsius above pre-industrialisation levels. This has to be achieved by a mix of mitigation and adaptation measures including a shift away from fossil fuels based energy mixes and towards use of renewable sources of energy. Against this backdrop, the timing of Pakistan’s push towards coal-based power generation could not have been more off the mark. Last month, the first of two power generation units at a coal-based plant in Sahiwal became operational, reportedly adding 666-megawatts to the national grid.
While the Sahiwal plant runs on imported coal, work is underway to utilise indigenous coal reserves as well, particularly in Sindh’s Thar desert.
Defending this strategy of tackling the chronic energy crisis through an energy source notorious for its damaging impact on environment, the government has claimed that use of latest technology will minimise emission of harmful gases from these plants. Though, environmental protection groups are not very optimistic, as the Worldwide Fund for Nature noted in a statement following the Paris Accord last year that even the most advanced technology could not be relied upon to significantly lower the degrading effects of coal-based power generation.
In a nutshell, the government’s argument is that Pakistan’s rather low carbon footprint in comparative terms and its desperate need for sustainable economic growth leading to job creation for a burgeoning youth population makes its push for coal-based generation unproblematic. Pakistan’s energy-related carbon emissions account for only 0.7 tonnes on a per-capita basis, compared to an average of 25 tons for the US, Australia, and Canada; 11 tons for European Union (EU) countries, and 2.1 tons for developing countries.
Yet, the problem of climate change cannot just be reduced to current country-level data. Environmentalists have been warning us for quite some time now Pakistan is among countries with high vulnerability to adverse climate change impacts, that will hurt population groups with low incomes and assets, leading to little or no resilience to cope with financial and economic losses.
The government must factor in the cost of environment degradation from coal-based power generation in its growth and social development strategy. Also worrying is the government’s scant regard for its own laws on environment protection as well as ignoring the views of local communities. Media reports on the Sahiwal coal plant suggest that Punjab’s Environment Protection Department has yet to issue a Confirmation of Compliance Report stating that around 20 health and environment concerns pointed out to the Punjab Power Development Board, the provincial authority concerned, have been addressed. With the power plant already entering operational stage, the delay in addressing these concerns is criminal negligence on the part of the Board. Earlier, concerns were also raised about the manner in which a mandatory public hearing was conducted for the project. Similar concerns figure in the Thar coal project as well. Finally, there is also the issue of land acquisition for these plants. The government must make sure that acquisition is done with full consent of communities that stand to be displaced and that these communities are compensated in an adequate and timely manner.
Pakistan’s energy emergency needs a concerted and a speedy effort but that should not be an excuse for poorly thought out solutions. For these will only compound our problems in the long-run. *