The governments of The Netherlands and Pakistan have signed an agreement in which the former will assist the latter in setting up Domestic Biogas units in the Punjab for which a sum of Rs316 million has been sanctioned to the Pakistan Rural Support Network.
The signing ceremony took place at a press conference attended by the visiting Dutch minister for Development and Co-operation, Bert Koenders; DG International Cooperation, EU, Yoka Brandt; Ambassador of The Netherlands Joost Reintjes; RSPN Chairman Shoaib Sultan Khan and DG Environment, Ministry of Environment, Jawed Ali Khan.
In his address Shoaib Sultan recalled how a former ambassador of the Netherlands had assisted him to set up another project after a casual conversation on a flight to the northern areas and thanked the present ambassador and the Dutch government for all the assistance they were providing to support environmental issues and poverty alleviation.
Jawed Ali Khan thanked The Netherlands government for supporting Pakistan in the development sector for more than five decades and said this new initiative would contribute to the efforts of both Pakistan and The Netherlands in reducing CO2 omissions and laying the foundation for a commercially viable biogas sector in Pakistan.
He concluded by giving facts and figures and requesting The Netherlands for further enhancing the cooperation in the areas of water resource conservation and management; environment and climate change to help achieve sustainable development.
Minister Koenders said The Netherlands has engaged in bilateral development cooperation with Pakistan since 1957 but its focus has varied over the years, partly due to lessons learned and insights gained but also due to shifts in the political situation in Pakistan and Dutch policy priorities. Development efforts currently centre on three sectors: education, environment/water management and good governance/human rights and the signing of the agreement just before the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference underscores both Pakistan’s and The Netherlands’ efforts to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions.
A successful development of a commercially viable biogas sector in Pakistan will not only reduce CO2 emissions but in the long-run it will create thousands of jobs in rural areas, save forests, increase agricultural production by using biogas slurry as fertiliser and significantly reduce the workload of women and improve their health.
He concluded by saying he was pleased to hear that Pakistan is keen to promote domestic biogas as an alternative energy and fully supports RSPN’s initiative to develop a domestic biogas programme starting in Punjab — a good example of a public-private
partnership, fostering economic growth and poverty reduction.
“I trust that eventually the foundation for a commercially viable sector will have been laid and that the programme will be expanded to cover other areas of the country,” he said. “Finally, I am convinced that this programme will assist Pakistan in addressing current and future challenges, achieving peace and stability in all parts of the country and contributing to an equitable and prosperous society.”
Source: thenews.com.pk
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