Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination on Thursday signed the crucial Nitric Acid Climate Action Group (NACAG) Statement of Undertaking (SoU), committing to reduce nitrous oxide emissions in the country’s nitric acid industry.
During the signing ceremony in Islamabad, attended by Ms Janine Rohwer, First Secretary at the German Embassy, and Wolfgang Hesse, Coordinator for Energy, Climate Change and Just Transition at GIZ Pakistan, the Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Romina Khurshid Alam confirmed the present government’s intention to implement policies to cut nitrous oxide emissions from nitric acid production in the long-term.
Addressing the SoU signing ceremony, Romina Khurshid Aam said that with the SoU signing with private sector, Pakistan has become the 11th country to formally sign the understanding of collaboration, alongside Argentina, Colombia, Georgia, Jordan, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe to reduce over four million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions annually in the country’s nitric acid sector.
According to a press release, the nitrous oxide emission reduction potential in fertilizer sector in Pakistan has been estimated at around 1.86 million tons of Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) per year.
Nitrous oxide is an odorless, colorless, non-flammable gas. Its global warming potential is nearly 300 times that of carbon dioxide over a 100-year time scale.
The Coordinator to Prime Minister reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to reduce the country’s green house gas emissions by aligning national actions with international agreements like the Paris Agreement.
