ISLAMABAD: PPP Vice President Senator Sherry Rehman on Thursday emphasised the urgent need for a sustainable, inclusive and forward-looking energy policy to ensure national prosperity.

Speaking as chief guest at the Parliamentary Forum on Energy and Economy, “Implications of IGCEP 2025: Politics of Energy Generation in Pakistan”, she described the issue of national importance. She said energy lay at the heart of economic growth and human development.

“Every industry, household, school and farm depends on low-cost, sustainable, and durable energy. Electricity is not a privilege; it is a human right,” she stated.

Referring to global energy trends, Ms Rehman noted that renewable energy had now overtaken coal as the world’s leading electricity source. Growth in solar and wind energy, she said, had met 100 per cent of the rise in global electricity demand this year.

Citing data from Ember 2025, she said 47pc of Pakistan’s electricity came from low-carbon sources in 2024, while official figures from the Ministry of Energy put the number even higher at 55pc — above the global average of 41pc.

She reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitments under its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), including generating 60pc of electricity from renewables by 2030, transitioning 30pc of vehicles to electric power, achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, and banning imported coal. “Renewables are the path to energy sovereignty and democracy,” she added.

She praised Sindh’s leadership in the renewable sector, recalling the province’s early solar initiatives in 2013 that brought electricity to schools and remote border villages. Highlighting the Sindh Solar Energy Project with World Bank support, she said it aimed to provide affordable solar systems to 500,000 low-income households, prioritising Benazir Income Support Programme beneficiaries.

Criticising the Indicative Generation Capacity Expansion Plan (IGCEP) 2025, she described it as “rooted in a 20th-century grid system — outdated and unoptimised”. She called for provincial inclusion in national energy planning, warning that excluding Sindh and Balochistan’s solar and wind projects was a missed opportunity.

Ms Rehman urged reforms in regulatory frameworks and investor confidence, saying, “Nepra has lost investment because it cannot ensure a predictable policy environment.”

She also opposed the privatisation of distribution companies, stressing that the public sector must remain accountable.

Despite an energy surplus, she noted that citizens continue to face unannounced loadshedding and unaffordable tariffs.

“No Pakistani should be left outside the electricity tent,” she concluded, calling for real reforms to make renewable energy accessible and affordable for all.

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2025