By Jawad Ahmed ISLAMABAD, Mar 01 (INP-WealthPK): The climate change is affecting almost every other country in one way or the other. Massive industrialisation, urbanisation and motorisation have increased the greenhouse gas emissions by over 50% than what was in 1990. Global warming is producing long-term changes to our climate, with potentially permanent repercussions. In September 2015, the United Nations had set the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eradicate poverty, safeguard the environment and guarantee that all people lived in peace and prosperity by 2030. The 17 SDGs are interconnected as actions in one area will have an impact on outcomes in others. Under the vision, development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability. With climate change top priority, the world body had asked the countries to adopt policies aimed at mitigating the phenomenon. In February 2016, shortly after the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for SDGs, Pakistan's National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution recognising the SDGs as the country's National Development Goals. Since then, Pakistan has established SDG support units within the planning institutions at the federal and provincial levels. The transportation sector is one of the primary contributors to Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the atmosphere, accounting for approximately 30% in industrialised nations and about 23% of all emissions globally, with road transportation accounting for the bulk. And, there is widespread agreement to reduce CO₂ emissions from the transportation sector to at least half by 2050. Roads are the predominant mode of transportation in Pakistan, accounting for over 90% of passenger and freight traffic. The transportation sector contributes about 10% of GDP and provides approximately 6% of employment in the country. According to a National Transport Research Centre (NTRC) study, also seen by WealthPK, in 2018, there were over 23.5 million registered vehicles in Pakistan, which was an increase of 170% over a five-year period. According to Pakistan's National Transport Policy, the number of automobiles is expected to climb to above 65 million by 2030. The transportation industry relies largely on petroleum fuels for energy, which is a major pollution contributor, emitting significant amounts of CO₂. Despite the fact that oil-based energy has a detrimental effect on the environment as well as the balance of payments of importing nations, Pakistan is heavily reliant on the use of oil-based petroleum products for transportation. Petroleum products imports accounted for more than 20% of the country's entire import bill, while the transportation sector consumed more than 80% of all petroleum products in the fiscal year 2019-20, reported WealthPK. There are a number of alternate solutions for CO₂ abatement like ensuring fuel efficiency and reducing reliance on oil-based consumption in the transportation sector. Innovative vehicle technology, investment in public transportation infrastructure, the use of sustainable biofuels, and tax breaks for manufacturers of low-carbon-emitting vehicles can all help attain this goal. The Pakistan Electric Vehicle Policy, 2019, was introduced with the objective to encourage the use of zero-emission electric vehicles by offering incentives to buyers and producers of electric vehicles. The policy aims to introduce half a million electric motorbikes and rickshaws, as well as 100,000 electric cars, vans and small trucks into the transportation system by 2025. Apart from that, the government has made major investments in public sector transportation such as launching metro bus services in densely-populated cities in order to minimise the demand for private vehicles. The Green Line in Karachi became the world's first zero-emission bus rapid transit system, running on biogas created from organic waste. The project is expected to save 2.7 million tonnes of CO₂ throughout its lifetime. While the National Freight and Logistics Policy 2020 also aims to minimise reliance on inefficient road transportation and shift the freight fleet from road to railways. In this respect, significant investments are being made to renovate the railways infrastructure under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Project.