On 28 May 2025, the Employers’ Federation of Pakistan (EFP), along with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) hosted a high-level private-sector consultation to shape Pakistan’s third Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0). With Pakistan targeting a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, the session underscored a clear message: the private sector is not just a stakeholder—it is essential to national climate success.

Representatives from manufacturing, agriculture, finance, and technology sectors gathered to review climate actions taken between 2020–2024, identify persistent barriers, and propose priority initiatives for inclusion in NDC 3.0. The event also reinforced the need for a permanent public-private dialogue platform—a key step toward embedding business voices into climate policy.

Private-Sector Progress (2020–2024)

Pakistani businesses have already launched impactful climate initiatives:

• The government’s inaugural Green Sukuk mobilized PKR 200 billion, with strong corporate participation.
• Yunus Textile Mills Limited deployed over 50 MW of on-site solar and contracted wind power.
• Cement, textile, and fertilizer firms achieved 10–15% energy savings through boiler and motor retrofits.
• Agri-enterprises piloted drip irrigation and drought-tolerant seeds, cutting water use by 25–40%.
• A few forward-looking companies began linking climate-risk insurance to worker welfare—though still in pilot phase.

These efforts demonstrate that when conditions are supportive, Pakistani enterprises act decisively.

Persistent Challenges

Despite progress, businesses face systemic hurdles:

• Policy and fiscal uncertainty, including volatile import duties on green tech, discourages long-term investment.
• Political interference in project selection undermines transparency.
• Knowledge gaps in Scope 3 accounting, baseline development, and Article 6 carbon markets limit participation.
• SMEs feel excluded from policy dialogues dominated by multinationals.
• Lack of Pakistan-specific emission factors and downscaled climate data hampers advanced MRV work.
• Weak social protection means climate shocks still directly threaten workers’ livelihoods.

Participants emphasized that successful projects shared three enablers: clear policy signals, concessional green finance, and targeted capacity-building.

Eight Priority Actions for NDC 3.0

The consultation yielded a concrete pipeline of eight priority actions, with an estimated US$1.4 billion funding need (2025–2030):

1. Aggregate corporate PPAs to unlock 1 GW of solar/wind for industrial zones
2. Launch a Green-Factory Retrofit Fund for textiles, cement, and light manufacturing
3. Develop Pakistan-specific emission factors and a digital MRV platform
4. Scale climate-smart agriculture through 100 demonstration farms
5. Create an Article 6 incubator and training hub to build carbon-market readiness
6. Pilot a climate-risk insurance facility for SME workers and producers
7. Deliver skills and enterprise development for youth and women in climate-vulnerable sectors (e.g., agri-foods, waste, textiles)
8. Build a national climate-data portal integrating risk, market, and policy intelligence

Critically, participants urged embedding social-protection criteria into all green-finance instruments to safeguard vulnerable workers—a core tenet of Just Transition.

Institutional Recommendations

To sustain momentum, businesses called for:

• A permanent “Climate Action Team” (to be formed by Q3 2025) co-designed by government, industry, academia, and development partners
• National capacity-building programs on Scope 3, MRV digitization, and Article 6
• An open-access climate-data portal with regional risk analytics
• Stable fiscal policies, including reduced import duties on green tech and climate-linked tax credits

Conclusion

The consultation confirmed that Pakistan’s private sector is ready to lead—but needs an enabling environment. By anchoring NDC 3.0 in real-world business priorities, Pakistan can unlock climate finance, create green jobs, and ensure no worker or community is left behind. As one participant affirmed: “We don’t just want to survive the climate crisis—we want to lead the solution.”