Consultative Meeting with Parliamentarians on Carbon Markets Governance
Date: Monday, March 09, 2026
Venue: DHA Golf Club, Karachi

Transparency International Pakistan organized a high level consultative meeting of Parliamentarians on advancing carbon market governance and legislative readiness in Pakistan on March 09, 2026 at Karachi. The meeting aimed to build on TI Pakistan’s report on carbon market readiness, explore the governance gaps, and highlight the role of Parliament in establishing a statutory foundation for a credible, transparent, and inclusive Carbon Market in the country through legislation in alignment with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

The session brought together 14 members of National Assembly (MNAs), Provincial Assembly of Sindh (MPAs) including members of Standing Committees on Finance, Forest, Wildlife and Environment, & Law and Parliamentary Affairs. Professor Dr. Uzma Shujaat, Board of Trustee, TI Pakistan began the session with her opening remarks. She framed carbon markets as a strategic opportunity for Pakistan to align climate action with economic and social benefits. She emphasized that their success depends not only on legislation and oversight but also on embedding fairness, accountability, and community participation from the outset.

Next, Mr. Kashif Ali, Executive Director, TI Pakistan presented TI Pakistan work on Climate Governance and Proposed Roadmap for Parliamentarians. Discussing TI Pakistan’s report on assessments of Pakistan’s readiness for carbon markets, he explained that clear legal recognition of carbon credits, reliable systems for measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of emissions reductions, and defined institutional responsibilities are necessary to build investor confidence and prevent risks such as double counting of emissions reductions. He shared in detail TI Pakistan legislative roadmap for parliamentarians, which includes establishing a comprehensive Carbon Market Act that legally recognizes carbon credits as tradable assets, develop a robust national system for measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of emissions reductions, and create a reliable national emissions baseline to ensure transparency and prevent double counting. He also emphasized that such legislation should also ensure community participation, transparent benefit-sharing mechanisms, clear institutional responsibilities and strong oversight to guarantee that carbon market projects contribute to both climate action and sustainable development in the country.

Moving on, Mr. Hamza Rafay Butt, Climate & Nature Finance Expert, delivered a presentation on Insights on Carbon Market Readiness in Pakistan: Gaps and Future Policy Direction. He outlined Pakistan’s growing potential to mobilize climate finance through carbon markets, with estimates ranging from USD 400 million to USD 2 billion annually. While initial policy guidelines were introduced in 2024, he noted persistent governance gaps, including limited emissions data, unclear institutional roles, and weak regulatory frameworks.

Mr. Hamza also reviewed global developments in carbon markets and their relevance for Pakistan, emphasizing the need to align national initiatives with international standards to ensure credibility and access to global trading platforms. He also emphasized that parliamentarians have a responsibility to ensure transparent governance of carbon markets, as they remain accountable to the communities from the constituencies that elected them and are responsible for safeguarding public resources.

Next speaker was Mr. Syed Bulent Sohail, Managing Partner Sohail & Partners, who spoke on legal frameworks for carbon markets in Pakistan. He noted that while the country has adopted ambitious targets under the Paris Agreement and updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), major challenges remain due to weak governance structures and limited coordination between federal and provincial governments. He explained that after the 18th to the Constitution of Pakistan, key sectors related to climate action, such as agriculture, water, forestry, and land use, became provincial responsibilities, while the federal government retained authority over international commitments. This division often leads to gaps between national policy commitments and implementation on the ground.

Mr. Syed Bulent Sohail also explained the carbon market project development cycle, including project design, validation, registration, monitoring and verification of emission reduction results, and the final issuance of carbon credits, along with the role of national registries in tracking and reporting project progress. He further highlighted the potential opportunities that Sindh holds in developing carbon market projects, particularly through mangrove restoration, forestry initiatives, renewable energy development, climate smart agriculture, and methane capture from livestock waste such as cow dung from Karachi’s cattle farms, which can support biogas production while reducing methane emissions.

During the discussion, MPAs of Sindh exchanged views on the opportunities and challenges associated with developing carbon markets in the province. They recognized Sindh’s potential to generate carbon credits through sectors such as mangrove restoration, forestry, renewable energy, and climate-smart agriculture. Parliamentarians also highlighted the need for sensitization of law makers on these sophisticated climate finance instruments so they are more aware about how they can bring forward strong legislation. They emphasized the need to make provincial parliamentary caucuses on carbon market governance, engage lawmakers in long term to provide them assistance to bring these important topic for discussion in assemblies through resolutions.

Towards the end, Justice (R) Zia Perwez, Chairman, TI Pakistan, concluded the meeting by emphasizing that carbon markets are emerging as an important pillar of global climate finance and economic transition. He noted that countries that establish credible governance frameworks early will be better positioned to attract investment and benefit from evolving carbon markets under the Paris Agreement. He highlighted that it’s important for Pakistan to included robust frameworks from the very beginning to avoid any risks associated with carbon markets and it unlock its true potential for the country.