World Bank offers $100m loan for Green Pakistan program
Islamabad: The Green Pakistan Program started for the planting of 100m trees in the country has attracted the eye of the World Bank which has shown interest in offering a $100m loan for it. The purpose of this loan would be to aid and develop Pakistan’s forest infrastructure and improve its forestry economic management.
Jiang Ru, senior environment specialist at World Bank said in a statement “The mission is willing to support in financing for initiatives related to livelihood improvements under Green Pakistan Program in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa provinces initially. The bank can provide support for capacity building at national level through ministry of climate change.”
Minister for Climate Change Zahid Hamid met the World Bank representatives on Thursday, the financing option and institutional arrangements for this funding was discussed during this meetup. Ru highlighted the significance for the Ministry of Climate change to introduce a scheme for provinces in which they are able to increase their forest cover. He added that the World Bank is already offering support for a watershed management project in Balochistan. And he added that financial help could be sought from the green environment facility and green climate fund of the United Nations.
Rizwan Mehboob, representative of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the Green Pakistan project told that the government is seeking additional sources of funds for this venture from several international donor agencies.
