Year: 2021

Energy financiers in Asia must stop supporting region’s costly addiction to LNG and coal power

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“Gas is over,” proclaimed European Investment Bank chief Werner Hoyer at the beginning of this year as he stated the bank’s vision to end the unabated use of fossil fuels. European officials have since called on the World Bank to phase out lending for gas projects globally, and to end support for coal and oil. US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, pledged in the early days of his presidency to end public finance for fossil fuel development overseas. Policy changes on fossil fuel financing have not been confined to the West.…

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Pakistan’s auto sector: growth comes at a high cost

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Last week when auto sales data was released, everyone jumped with joy. Why shouldn’t they? Sales figures for March 2021 increased 27% month-on-month, and since year-on-year comparison really isn’t fair due to the lockdown in 2020, everyone saw this as a delightful development for a sector that has various industries associated with its recovery. Figures for the nine-month period – between July 2020 and March 2021 – were even better with sales amounting to near 135,000, a 36% increase year-on-year. Now this figure is worth celebrating even more because, in…

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IMF programme just needs a little tweaking

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International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme is not in a strait jacket, so stated Resident Representative of the IMF in Islamabad Teresa Daban Sanchez, but evolves as the situation on the ground changes, recalibrated in Fund speak, with particular reference to the previously agreed timing of the implementation. A change of personnel or ministers “does not affect our role and commitment to the people of Pakistan,” she added. This lays to rest the hype created after Dr Hafeez Sheikh’s departure and his successor Shaukat Tarin’s public statement that he is not…

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Study shows 23% GHG reductions with LNG, but sceptics remain

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A World Bank report throws shade on the results of a new study that says LNG as a fuel offers significant GHG reduction benefits, as orders for LNG-fuelled ships surge. Two studies released on the same day express widely different opinions of the environmental benefits of LNG as a marine fuel, clouding an already murky decarbonisation picture for shipowners. One study, 2nd Lifecycle GHG Emission Study on the use of LNG as a Marine Fuel from Sphera, backed by industry coalitions SEA/LNG and the Society for Gas as a Marine Fuel (SGMF), reports…

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US extends invitation to Pakistan for climate change summit

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After initially excluding it from the list of attendees, the US has invited Pakistan to President Joe Biden’s Climate Change Conference, Geo.tv reported on Monday. Following Pakistan’s initial exclusion from the summit, Prime Minister Imran Khan had responded by saying he was “puzzled at the cacophony”. “[Pakistani] government’s environmental policies are driven solely by our commitment to our future generations of a clean and green Pakistan to mitigate the impact of climate change,” explained the PM. The prime minister had said that this commitment led to initiatives such as Green Pakistan, 10…

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