ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province is set to launch the country’s first-ever carbon credit project “soon” at a decades-old dumping site in Lahore, aiming to reduce pollution and mitigate climate risks, an official confirmed on Wednesday.

The Mehmood Booti dumpsite, a 42.98-acre landfill near Lahore’s Ring Road area, has been accumulating waste since 1997. Over the years, it has amassed 13 million tons of waste, leading to severe environmental hazards including toxic groundwater contamination, hazardous air pollution, and methane emissions. 

Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s eastern province of Punjab, has repeatedly ranked among the world’s most polluted cities in international air quality indices, with smog causing severe health issues for residents every winter. 

Carbon credit projects are initiatives that reduce, remove or prevent the emission of greenhouse gases. These projects generate carbon credits, which can be sold to companies or individuals looking to offset their carbon footprint.

“RUDA [Ravi Urban Development Authority] is taking a historic step toward environmental sustainability by rehabilitating the Mehmood Booti dumpsite,” Alishba Tajwar, deputy director of communication and environment at RUDA, told Arab News.

“And is all set to launch Pakistan’s First-Ever Carbon Credit Project at the site very soon after testing as most of the work has been completed.”

The official said the rehabilitation project included initiatives such as capturing methane, leachate treatment [which treats leachate, a contaminated liquid that drains from landfills or waste sites] and transforming the site into an urban forest and solar park.

“This project not only addresses severe environmental challenges posed by the 13 million tons of waste accumulated over decades but also introduces innovative solutions to repurpose waste into hydrogen energy,” Tajwar said. 

Pakistan is among the countries most at risk from climate change, as per the Global Climate Risk Index. Extreme weather events like floods, droughts, cyclones, torrential rainstorms, and heat waves have been occurring more frequently and with greater intensity across the country in recent years. 

She said the initiative aims to reduce pollution, cut carbon emissions by one million tons over 15 years and align Pakistan with global sustainability goals.

She said methane emissions from the dumpsite will be captured and converted into usable energy, adding that the carbon credit mechanism in the rehabilitation project followed a structured process that enables monetization of emission reductions through global carbon markets.

The RUDA official said this project represented a Rs5 billion ($17.86 million) investment, making it one of Pakistan’s most ambitious environmental initiatives.

“With an expected issuance of 100,000 tons of carbon credits per year, it will generate Rs2 billion ($7.14 million) in revenue annually, reinforcing Pakistan’s climate finance strategy,” Tajwar said. 

She said captured methane will either be converted into energy or flared using advanced gas recovery technology, significantly lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Tajwar said the project involved collecting solid waste, treating it to extract usable gases and converting those gases into hydrogen.

“This hydrogen can then be utilized for various energy needs, including electricity generation, industrial uses, and even fuel for hydrogen-powered vehicles,” she explained. 

‘POSITIVE IMPACT’

Environmental experts termed this initiative as a much-needed step to reduce pollution and address environmental challenges faced by Lahore residents.

Asif Mahmood, a Lahore-based environment expert, said this was an environmentally friendly project initially proposed by the interim government in 2023 to transform the site into a solar park.

“In 2019, dangerous methane gas clouds were observed emerging from the site, affecting not only the surrounding area but also the entire city,” he told Arab News.

Mahmood said rehabilitation work at the site had already made a noticeable difference, with one of the most evident improvements being the elimination of the foul odor that previously affected surrounding areas for several kilometers.

Asif Ali Sial, a Lahore-based environment lawyer, said the project will have a positive impact by providing relief to the city’s residents from solid waste pollution.

“A series of garbage piles at the site has been causing significant harm to residents and the environment,” he said. 

“Therefore, this project will have a positive impact on the city’s surroundings and overall environmental quality.”

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Wednesday that Islamabad was seeking investment and technical assistance from China rather than just aid, identifying agriculture, information and technology as important sectors for bilateral collaboration. 

Aurangzeb is currently attending the four-day Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2025 in China. The forum, often referred to as the “Asian Davos,” is a high-level platform where leaders from government, business and academia across Asia and other continents gather to discuss pressing global and regional issues. 

China is a major ally and investor in Pakistan that has pledged over $65 billion in investment in road, infrastructure and development projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a part of the Belt and Road Initiative that is a massive China-led infrastructure project that aims to stretch around the globe.

“We are grateful [to China] on the financing side but going forward, we now want investment from China not aid,” Aurangzeb told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) at the sidelines of the conference. “Secondly, we want technical support and assistance.”

The finance minister said China could immensely help Pakistan in boosting its agriculture, information and technology sectors. 

Aurangzeb praised China for taking strides in green projects, saying that Pakistan would try its best to learn from its neighboring country on how to tackle the climate change crisis. 

“The way Beijing’s pollution was eliminated in record time, we have the same problem in Lahore,” he said. “So there are various sectors where we are working with China and will continue to do so.”

During his address at the conference earlier on Wednesday, Aurangzeb proposed the formation of a global coalition of developing nations to collectively advocate for fair trade and better representation in international financial institutions, criticizing the global economy as unequal. 

“Developing countries must unite to demand fair trade principles and improved representation in global financial institutions,” Aurangzeb said, according to a finance ministry statement. 

China’s help for Pakistan is crucial at this stage, given the 241-million-strong country has been grappling with a macroeconomic crisis that has adversely impacted its foreign reserves, weakened its national currency and caused a balance of payments crisis. 

The country has undertaken some economic reforms in recent months which seem to have yielded fruit as its inflation has gone down and its foreign reserves have increased. 

Pakistan has increasingly sought to attract international investment from China, Central Asian states and Middle Eastern allies such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia as it seeks to reduce its dependency on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial bailout packages. 

It formed the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) in 2023 to fast-track decisions related to foreign investment in mining and minerals, agriculture, livestock, tourism and other priority sectors.