WB has messed up country's energy sector by backing gas experts.

KARACHI -- Speakers at a seminar on Wednesday criticised the World Bank for messing up Pakistan's energy sector by supporting fossil gas and financing LNG infrastructure in recent years.

Organised by the Alliance for Climate Justice and Clean Energy, the seminar participants unanimously called the country's shift to fossil gas a costly mistake that has contributed to disproportionately high reliance on imported LNG obtained at exorbitant spot prices.

There's sufficient scientific evidence which confirms this gas isn't a 'transition' fuel to cleaner energy systems, said Fran Witt, senior adviser at advocacy group Recourse. That's because fossil gas is another carbon-intensive, high-emitting fossil fuel just like coal and is diverting funds from cleaner renewable alternatives.

'Plans to expand gas infrastructure in Asia pose one of the greatest threats to meeting goals of the Paris Agreement and averting the most catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis,' she said, noting that the World Bank shouldn't follow such a risky strategy.

Pakistan's shift to fossil fuels termed a 'costly mistake'

Seminar participants Haneea Isaad of the Institute for Energy EcoA!nomics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), along with M. Abdul Rafay and Zain Moulvi of the Alternative Law Collective, discussed at length many World Bank-supported gas projects that have now 'imperilled' PakA!istan's transition to cleaner energy.

For example, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is the private-sector arm of the World Bank, mobilised in 2015 about $64.5 million in financing for Engro CorA!poration to support the construction of the country's first LNG terminal. It was part of the World Bank Group and IFC's strategy to mobilise up to $10 billion in investments to...