Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
A legislative body of Upper House of parliament on Wednesday was informed that Carbon Market Policy framework was developed aligning with the principles of the Paris Agreement. The draft policy would be presented before the Federal Cabinet for approval. Asif Hyder Shah, the Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC) expressed these views while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, which held today at Parliament House with Senator Seemee Ezdi in Chair. In response to the presentation, the committee unanimously endorsed the draft guidelines of the carbon market, considering it a pressing need of the hour.
The committee focused on briefing about the Carbon Market Policy guidelines and Pakistan’s strategy for COP28, specifically emphasizing the operationalization of the Loss and Damage fund. Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), provided a comprehensive overview of the Carbon market. He explained that the Carbon market comprises two significant components: the compliance carbon market and the voluntary carbon market. In the compliance carbon market, the government regulates emissions for specific industries, whereas the voluntary carbon market offers platforms for the voluntary procurement of carbon credits.
Furthermore, Mr. Shah highlighted that the global voluntary carbon market has experienced substantial growth, reaching 2 billion dollars, and is anticipated to expand further, ranging between 10 to 40 billion dollars. He also noted that countries such as India, China, Japan, and Indonesia have already established their carbon markets this year.
