Barriers to green transformation

The financial sector plays a crucial role in promoting environmentally sustainable and socially responsible investment. Pakistan has set a target of a 50 per cent reduction in its projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 — 15pc from the country’s resources and 35pc subject to the provision of international finance amounting to $101 billion for the clean energy transition. This requires the country to increase the share of clean, renewable energy to 60pc in its total energy mix and boost electric vehicle (EV) adoption to 30pc of the total vehicles sold by 2030. However, new explorative research on ‘Facilitating Green Loans for Sustainable Energy Transition: The Case of Distributed Solar PV (DSPV) and EV Lending in Pakistan’ finds that green financing is in its infancy due to various barriers.