The Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) convened the 10th session of the Green Zameen Fellowship Program in Karachi, bringing together parliamentarians, architects, engineers, journalists and civil society leaders to discuss energy planning, sustainable housing and policy reforms aimed at reducing Pakistan’s growing energy burden. Participants explored technical, design and policy measures to strengthen demand-side management and promote greener construction practices.
Umer Farooq of the LUMS Energy Institute outlined the country’s energy planning challenges, noting that inefficient buildings and weak demand-side management are major contributors to stress on the power system. He highlighted the need for integrated planning that aligns building performance improvements with broader energy system targets to reduce peak loads and improve reliability.
Hafiz Talha Saeed, a sustainable building architect at the LUMS Energy Institute, emphasized the importance of green design and architecture. He called for promoting net-zero homes, using sustainable building materials and enforcing the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA) building codes more rigorously to address rising cooling demands and long-term energy costs.
Speakers and participants stressed the role of policy and local action in enabling green construction. Discussions focused on closing policy gaps, strengthening enforcement of building codes, and creating provincial and municipal financial mechanisms and incentives that make sustainable building practices more feasible for developers and homeowners.
The session included 10 parliamentarians from Sindh and two from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, along with civil society and media representatives. The meeting concluded with a forward-looking call to build climate-smart communities, close policy gaps and enable a just energy transition, and previewed upcoming fellowship themes aimed at sustaining collaborative leadership for a resilient, energy-secure Pakistan.
