ISLAMABAD, Dec 2 (APP): Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Thursday thanked President, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Masatsugu Asakawa for confirming Pakistan’s inclusion into its first-ever Energy Transition Mechanism aimed to support energy mix conversion over clean renewable solutions.
In a tweet on his official Twitter handle, the SAPM wrote, “Thx to President of @ADB_HQ for following up meeting at @COP26 with letter confirming #Pakistan entry into #EnergyTransitionMechanism along with #Philippines and #Indonesia and approval of grant funds to convert from #Coal2Clean under #CleanClimate vision of @ImranKhanPTI.”
He also shared the letter of confirmation by the ADB President which was written in the follow up of his meeting with the SAPM on the biggest international climate change moot of COP-26 held in Glasgow.
Initially, a prefeasibility study would be carried out in the selected countries to assess their energy mix and propositions for viable transition from existing fossil fuels to clean energy with least impact on the economy of the proposed country.
The ADB President in his letter to SAPM Amin Aslam available with APP, said, “Thank you for joining us at the Energy Transition Mechanism for Southeast Asia: Partnership Launch at COP26, Glasgow, UK. I thank you for your strong support provided at COP26 for the launch of the Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM) on 3 November 2021 and for the substantial points you made during the panel discussion.”
He underscored that as already known that the battle against climate change would be won or lost in Asia and the Pacific. “ETM will be a win for the climate, a win for local communities, and a win for developing economies,” he mentioned.
President ADB confirmed Pakistan’s inclusion into the ETM and also the allocation of funds to execute the prefeasibility of the early shutdown of fossil fuel-based power plants in the country.
“The study will commence in January 2022. Further, it is anticipated that, by March 2022, we will have the first set of key outputs for Indonesia and Philippines on technical, financial, and legal feasibility and be in a position to determine next steps, including the launch of a request for proposal process to solicit proposals from general partners/ fund managers,” he concluded.
According to the SAPM it was one of the major achievements of the country at COP26 where it managed to get global funding for its ecosystem restoration and climate change mitigation measures.
