From public health to industrial competitiveness, energy choices today shape future workforce and economy
ISLAMABAD:
In Pakistan, clean energy is often framed as a climate obligation – a commitment made in international forums, discussed in policy papers, and debated in technical terms. But this framing misses the central economic and human dimension. Clean energy is not merely an environmental concern. It is fundamentally an economic and public health issue, and at its heart lies an inter-generational responsibility.
Pakistan’s youth and next generation are not a peripheral social group; they are the country’s most valuable economic asset. Their health, learning capacity, and productivity will determine whether Pakistan grows, competes, and sustains itself – or continues to struggle under the weight of low productivity, rising healthcare costs, and environmental degradation. Energy choices made today directly shape that future.
Dirty energy carries hidden economic costs
Pakistan’s energy mix remains heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels – oil, gas, and coal – creating a dual burden. On one hand, it drains foreign exchange and fuels circular debt. On the other, it imposes invisible but severe economic costs through pollution, illness, and lost productivity.
Cities like Lahore, Karachi, and Faisalabad routinely rank among the most polluted urban centres in the world. Smog is no longer a seasonal inconvenience; it has become a structural public health crisis. Respiratory diseases, cardiovascular conditions, and pollution-related illnesses disproportionately affect children and working-age populations. These are not abstract harms. They translate into missed school days, reduced cognitive development, lower labour productivity, and higher healthcare expenditures – all of which weaken economic growth over time.
Dirty energy does not simply power factories. It quietly taxes households, overwhelms hospitals, and erodes the productivity of the future workforce.
When energy is unaffordable, forests pay the price
The consequences of dirty energy are not confined to cities or power plants. They extend quietly into forests, villages, and survival choices. In much of rural Pakistan, deforestation is not driven by neglect for nature but by energy poverty. Families cut trees because firewood remains the cheapest and most reliable fuel for cooking and heating. When affordable clean energy – solar, biogas, or reliable electricity – becomes available, the incentive to strip nearby forests weakens immediately.
Clean energy, in this sense, is not only about emissions or megawatts; it is about preventing citizens from consuming their own natural capital to survive. Protecting forests, ecosystems, and watersheds therefore begins not with enforcement, but with energy access.
Clean energy as human capital investment
Economists increasingly recognise that long-term growth depends less on physical infrastructure alone and more on human capital – healthy, skilled, and productive people. Clean energy directly supports this objective. Reducing air pollution improves public health outcomes, lowers healthcare costs, and enhances learning capacity among children. A healthier population is more productive, more innovative, and more competitive. From this perspective, clean energy is not a cost centre; it is an investment in Pakistan’s economic foundations.
This is where inter-generational responsibility becomes tangible. The choices made today determine whether the next generation inherits cleaner air, stronger lungs, sharper minds, and greater economic opportunity – or the opposite.
Industrial competitiveness and clean energy
Clean energy is also central to Pakistan’s industrial future. Global markets are rapidly shifting towards sustainability. Consumers, regulators, and investors increasingly demand environmentally responsible production. Products are now judged not only by price and quality but by their carbon footprint and environmental credentials.
Pakistan’s industrial sectors cannot remain competitive if they rely on polluting, inefficient energy sources. Export industries, particularly those targeting European and North American markets, face growing pressure to meet environmental standards. Clean energy is therefore not a moral choice; it is a commercial necessity.
Encouragingly, Pakistan’s regulatory framework is beginning to reflect this reality. Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) increasingly allow captive renewable power generation, enabling industries to secure low-cost, reliable, and cleaner energy. Recent EPZ rules mandate that at least 20% of electricity consumption comes from renewable sources – a step towards aligning industrial growth with sustainability. Globally, successful industrial clusters have already embraced this model. Industrial parks in Germany, China, and parts of Southeast Asia integrate renewable energy into manufacturing ecosystems, lowering costs while meeting environmental standards. These clusters demonstrate that clean energy and industrial competitiveness are not opposing goals; they reinforce each other.
Pakistan’s natural advantage
Pakistan is uniquely positioned to benefit from clean energy. It has abundant solar potential, strong wind corridors, viable small hydropower resources, and favourable weather conditions. In recent years, rooftop solar adoption has surged, driven by high electricity costs and unreliable supply. Solar imports have expanded rapidly, reflecting strong demand from households and businesses alike. Yet policy inconsistency threatens this momentum. Abrupt changes in net metering frameworks and unclear long-term signals create uncertainty for consumers and investors. Clean energy adoption requires stable, predictable policies – not stop-start approaches that undermine confidence. The issue is not whether Pakistan can afford clean energy. The real question is whether Pakistan can afford the long-term economic and health costs of continuing with dirty energy.
Clean energy as inter-generational responsibility
At its core, this debate is about the Pakistan we choose to hand over to the next generation. A country that exposes its children to toxic air, rising temperatures, and deteriorating urban environments is quietly undermining its own future workforce. Weak health outcomes today become weaker economic outcomes tomorrow.
Inter-generational responsibility is not an abstract moral concept. It is a constitutional, economic, and developmental obligation. Sustainable development must be understood not only in environmental terms, but in terms of safeguarding the social and institutional foundations that future generations will rely upon. Clean energy sits at the intersection of public health, economic productivity, industrial competitiveness, and social equity. Treating it as a niche environmental issue understates its significance.
The writer is a PhD; former executive director general, Board of Investment; public policy & corporate law expert
