FAISALABAD: Euro Dutch Funds for Environment & Development (DFED) will provide massive grants for green projects which will have positive impact on local communities, said Dr Tahir Rasheed Director World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan.
He was addressing an awareness session on DFED in Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) here today.
He said that mother earth is in danger and we must integrate global efforts to protect it for the coming generations. He said for environmental protection and achieving Millennium Sustainable Development goals, we need an estimated amount of 4.2 trillion dollars.
“The rich countries have so far donated 1.7 trillion dollars but still there is a huge shortfall, as vulnerable economies are unable to spare funds for this purpose as their prime object is to feed their burgeoning population”, he said and added that Dutch Fund has been created to launch green projects which will have trickle down impacts on the local communities.
He said that bankable projects would be preferred for this grant while initially a grant of 60 thousand Euros will be doled out for pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. “In later phase additional grant of 3.5 million Euro would also be given to start pilot projects”, he said and added that for the full-fledged operation of these green projects competitive bank loans could also be provided.
He said that six countries including Pakistan are already working with the funding of Dutch grant while India and Indonesia have recently applied for this fund.
About the hazards of burning stubs of rice crop, he said that in 17 cities of India a project has been launched to use the stubs for energy production and electricity generation in addition to avoiding the colossal damage to the climate.
“With this project the concerned farmers could also get a reasonable amount of their field waste”, he said and mentioned a project in the Indus delta and told that 7 million Euro projects have been launched or is in the final approval stage in Pakistan. He said that saline water in Punjab could also be used profitably and in this connection 14.9 million Euro grant could also be approved. Similarly bagasse of sugar mills could also be used through environment friendly technologies.
Sohail Ali Naqvi Senior Manager Fresh Water Program (WWF) said that this organization was already working on textile and leather based projects in Punjab. He said that in Faisalabad a project could be launched to doctor industrial effluent as the treated water could be used for irrigation purposes.
Earlier Executive Member Sanaullah Khan Niazi briefly introduced Faisalabad and Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry while Muhammad Fazil offered vote of thanks.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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