Pakistan’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (MoCC&EC) has partnered with VerraStandards, the leading greenhouse gas crediting program, in an effort to help Pakistan tap into the global carbon market. This collaboration aims to attract foreign investors and establish verified carbon offset initiatives in the country. The Minister for Climate Change, Sherry Rehman, announced the partnership on Twitter, calling it a “major milestone in boosting Pakistan’s green growth.”
Verra operates the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program and other standards in environmental and social markets. Through this partnership, MoCC&EC and Verra will work together to share knowledge and educate stakeholders on carbon markets. They will focus on capacity building for the voluntary carbon market and net zero committee of Pakistan, with future training topics likely including agriculture, forestry, and land use methodologies.
This development is significant for Pakistan as it has real potential to host carbon market projects. The establishment of a carbon market would enable Pakistan to raise financing by selling carbon credits and utilize the funds to support renewable energy projects. This collaboration aims to equip private project proponents and investors with the necessary technical and administrative knowledge to participate in VCM.
Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, head of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), explains that partnering with Verra allows Pakistan to be part of the Verra registry, which is crucial for implementing Verra’s standards and programs. The VCS program defines the standards and processes for certification, allowing projects to be registered conveniently and credits to be traded transparently. The Verra registry serves as a central repository for all information and documentation related to Verra projects and credits, ensuring their uniqueness in the system.
Currently, only the Delta Blue Carbon project in Sindh has been verified by Verra. This verification has allowed the project to list its carbon credits on the Singapore-based carbon exchange Climate Impact X (CIX). The project recently sold 50,000 tons of carbon-removal credits at $29.72 per ton. In a previous auction, the project sold 250,000 tons of credits at $27.8 per ton, indicating an increase in the per-ton price in the recent auction.
Overall, this partnership between MoCC&EC and Verra is expected to unlock Pakistan’s carbon market potential, attract foreign investments, and support the country’s green growth agenda.
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