Pakistan needs $188 billion for clean energy goals, Shehbaz says
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged concessional financing and affordable technology to help Pakistan reach its 2035 green energy targets.
Pakistan needs about $188 billion to meet its clean energy goals by 2035, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday, according Prime Minister's Office.
Sharif presented Pakistan's plan for shifting to green energy at a session on the country's transition to clean power by 2035.
He said clean energy sources now make up about 55 percent of Pakistan's overall power system.
Sharif said he inaugurated a key part of Pakistan's seventh nuclear power plant before leaving for Antalya, a project that will add 1,200 megawatts of clean electricity to the national grid.
Under a recently introduced auto policy, the government aims to convert 30 percent of new vehicles to electric by 2030, with incentives including lower tariffs.
Sharif said all future government purchases of buses and motorcycles will be electric, and more than one in every 10 motorcycles sold in Pakistan this year are electric.
He said the shift is moving quickly, but steady outside financing is essential, with about $138 billion needed for low-carbon power projects by 2035 and another $50 billion to replace coal-fired power with solar.
Sharif said heavy investment is also needed to expand transmission networks, build reliable energy storage and make modern technology affordable, a burden he said a debt-laden economy cannot carry alone.
He urged global partners to provide concessional financing and ease the transfer of affordable technology, saying the targets can only be met through collective effort and timely funding.
The UN climate conference, known as COP31, is being held in Türkiye this year.
