In April, Pakistan signed its first-ever bilateral carbon market agreement with Norway under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, a deal described as a "historic milestone" by the climate minister. Back then, the description did not seem an exaggeration but truly a milestone. Underlying it, Pakistan had formally joined the global carbon market: a way to earn money from its environmental capital and direct international finance towards its climate transition.

Two months later, the federal budget was announced, and it was as if the Norway deal had never happened.

No new budget allocations were made towards the measurement and verification systems that are a basic requirement of carbon markets. No investment was made in climate finance education and training, which is needed to develop the professionals required to structure and negotiate carbon deals. No ring-fenced fund was established to ensure a fair share of carbon market-generated income for the communities whose land does the actual carbon mitigation work.

The Climate Change Division was allocated Rs2.78 billion, and no new development project has been approved for the next year. A deal was signed. Then the government moved on, presumably assuming that signing is doing. It is not. As a research intern on Pakistan's carbon market frameworks under the Global Green Growth Institute, I want to make my point about exactly what is not being done, and the price we will pay for it.

There is a number in this year's budget that deserves far more attention than it has received. Pakistan........

© The Friday Times