By Asad Cheema
ISLAMABAD: In order to collate forces intended to expedite industrial decarbonization expertise for the hard to abate sectors like steel, cement and chemicals, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and National Production Organization (NPO) here on Wednesday.
The MoU was signed by the SDPI Deputy Executive Director Dr Sajid Amin Javed and NPO Chief Executive Officer Muhammad Alamgir Chaudhary.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sajid Amin Javed said Pakistan has recognized the importance of economy, as sustainable economic growth requires sustainable industrialization that is not possible without affordable and environment-friendly energy. The MoU will pave the way for enhanced research & development facilities and knowledge resources for the industry to embrace decarbonization in their supply chains and system operations in the right direction under expert supervision, he added. Alamgir Chaudhary said the NPO is working under the umbrella of Ministry of Industries and Production, and is a network of 21 countries of the Asia Pacific under the vision to ensure economically productive and globally competitive Pakistan.
Highlighting that NPO provides world over the technical expertise on productivity cycles, he said this MoU will further scale up the capacities and strengthen the expertise of NPO in decarbonization.
Saleha Qureshi, Senior Research Associate and Lead of Industrial Decarbonization Programme at SDPI, said Pakistan Industrial Decarbonization Programme has been conceived to initiate advocacy and knowledge sharing on decarbonization of hard to abate sectors of the industry like steel, cement, chemicals, aviation and shipping.
She said the country has witnessed surge in its cement and steel exports that are vulnerable to the impact of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) rollout by the European Union that will drastically reduce their export number.
Ms Qureshi said the knowledge partnership will help channelize the research and development, knowledge resource and expertise for coordinated and well guided the decarbonization of Pakistani industry.
