For a better and greener Urban Future: Pakistan-Korea Collaboration for Urban Revitalization and GHG emission reduction

The session is to share knowledge and experiences on urban revitalization and GHG emission reduction learnt from projects implemented in South Korea and being planned in Pakistan with the Government of Pakistan and UN Habitat. As of 2020, 37% of the total population in Pakistan lives in urban area which was 22% in 1960. Rapid urbanization gave rise to positive impacts like economic growth; but the hike of population due to urbanization created slum areas with poor living conditions. According to UN Habitat, more than 50% of the population of major cities in Pakistan live in slums and squatter settlements called Katchi-Abadis. People suffer from poor living conditions such as lack of clean drinking water, insecure shelters, lack of street lights and poor access to energy, causing negative impact in public health and other social issues such as high crime rates. Moreover, Pakistan’s GHG emissions are rapidly increasing as urban population continues to grow. As of 2008, GHG emission in Pakistan was 147.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent and it is expected to increase up to 400 million tons of CO2 by 2030 if the situation remains intact. Matters are more serious in the Katchi-Abadies. Large portion of the GHG emission occurs during daily activities to fulfil basic necessities such as boiling water, cooking, lighting, and manufacturing bricks to build shelters. Currently, the Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH), the Ministry of Climate Change of Pakistan (MoCC) and UN Habitat are working closely together to find the best solution on how to improve the living conditions in Katchi-Abadis, reducing GHG emission using green and low carbon technologies. In this regard, the planned session will be a good opportunity not only to closely discuss among panellists involved in the project to find solutions in Pakistan. At the same time, it will also be a setting to share this experience with participants of WUF11 as an alternative way to respond to urban poverty and global climate change. The event will be held in two parts composed of presentations of best practices on urban revitalization and GHG emission reduction. LH, MoCC and UN Habitat will share their own policies, knowledge, experiences and best practices that the participants can learn from each other’s experiences on urban revitalization and GHG emission reduction. The second part will be a discussion among LH, MoCC, UN Habitat and other global stakeholders and experts on urban development and climate change. The discussion aims to see whether the proposed model and solution being applied in Pakistan is applicable to other developing countries. Tentative agenda for the event will be as below: Opening/Congratulatory remarks, Urban development framework in Korea, Policy direction on climate change in Pakistan, Urban slums in Pakistan, Un-Habitat’s approach to the project, Urban revitalization and GHG emission reduction projects in Pakistan, Open discussion and Q&A, and Closing remarks.