ISLAMABAD: Transparency International Pakistan(TI-P) presented a comprehensive legislative roadmap for Parliament during a high-level consultative meeting of parliamentarians and national experts aimed at advancing governance and legislative readiness for carbon markets in Pakistan.
The consultation underscored that Pakistan’s Policy Guidelines for Trading in Carbon Markets, approved in December 2024, represent an important policy milestone.
However, participants noted that international experience and domestic assessments indicate that guidelines alone are insufficient. Effective carbon markets depend on legal certainty, data integrity, and enforceable safeguards — areas where Parliament must provide a firm statutory foundation.
The proposed roadmap focuses on four key areas, foremost among them the legal recognition of carbon credits as formal legal assets. TI Pakistan called for the enactment of a Carbon Markets Framework Act that would clearly define carbon credits, Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), and Verified Emission Reductions as intangible assets.
The proposed legislation would establish ownership rules, distinguish between public, private, and community-generated credits, and clarify their treatment in contracts, taxation, and dispute resolution.
The roadmap also emphasizes the establishment of a national Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system aligned with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, alongside emissions baseline frameworks.
Additionally, it highlights the need to codify benefit-sharing mechanisms and community safeguards, including Free, Prior and Informed Consent and grievance redress systems in line with international standards.
Kashif Ali, Executive Director of TI Pakistan, stated that Pakistan holds enormous potential for carbon projects. “By translating policy intent into enforceable law, Parliament can unlock significant climate finance and position Pakistan as a high-integrity carbon market leader,” he said.
By translating our policy intent into enforceable law, Parliament can unlock significant climate finance, strengthen Pakistan’s climate ambition, and position the country as a high-integrity carbon market leader.
Concluding the consultation, Ms. Munaza Hassan, Chairperson of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, emphasized Parliament’s pivotal role in ensuring that carbon markets operate transparently and that climate finance supports national and community priorities.
She thanked Transparency International Pakistan for engaging parliamentarians on the important topics of carbon markets and climate governance in Pakistan.
