KARACHI: The government should set up a high-powered task force for the implementation of climate change–related measures in the corporate sector, said M. Abdul Aleem, secretary general of the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI), while addressing a conference on Friday.

The chief of the representative body of more than 200 foreign investors said a steering committee should also be established to review and gradually raise the bar for improving the climate-related disclosures besides developing a nationwide climate knowledge-sharing initiative.

Mr Aleem made these remarks at the launch of a whitepaper titled “Synergising the climate ambition: a blueprint for achieving NDCs [nationally determined contributions] through private-sector engagement”.

The white paper showed key learnings and insights from the Pakistan Climate Conference 2022 that the OICCI organised in March. In particular, it highlighted the commitment of OICCI members — the likes of Chevron, Indus Motor, Engro Corporation and Unilever — to “promote positive climate actions.” It also drew an outline for action to boost public-private investment in climate change adaptation and resilience.

Pakistan has made an ambitious commitment to reducing its emissions by 50 per cent by 2030 through the NDC targets presented at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26). As per these NDCs, about 15pc of the total proposed emissions reduction is unconditional whereas the remaining 35pc is to be achieved subject to conditional support from bilateral and multilateral sources.

Addressing the conference, Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) Chairperson Dr Shamshad Akhtar said the PSX has launched a task force on Environmental, Social, and Governance or ESG and conducts regular interaction with all corporate entities. “ESG compliance is important for attracting foreign direct investment… it’s an attractive instrument to bring in long-term investment,” she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Unilever Pakistan CEO Amir Paracha said Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country in terms of its vulnerability to climate change even though its share in greenhouse gas emissions is less than 1pc. “Taking the right actions now can move us towards a fairer, more sustainable world by addressing climate change,” he said.

The OICCI’s recommended roadmap aims at harmonising the climate change-related efforts made by OICCI members like Shell Pakistan, Siemens, Total Parco and Nestle. The monitoring and evaluation mechanism suggested in the working paper will help consolidate data and efforts for promoting collaborations as well as supporting the industry and government stakeholders in streamlining the projection and demonstration of their work.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2022