Abdul Samad Tariq ISLAMABAD/ANTALYA, Nov 14 (APP):Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik has called for a shift in international climate financing towards direct support for households adopting renewable energy, saying Pakistan's rooftop solar expansion demonstrates how ordinary people are driving the energy transition in response to economic pressures. Addressing a ministerial panel titled “From Pledge to Plans: Electrifying the Transition” at the Global Renewables Hub during the 31st …
Pakistan urges global partners to finance household solar revolution
Abdul Samad Tariq
ISLAMABAD/ANTALYA, Nov 14 (APP):Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadik Malik has called for a shift in international climate financing towards direct support for households adopting renewable energy, saying Pakistan’s rooftop solar expansion demonstrates how ordinary people are driving the energy transition in response to economic pressures.
Addressing a ministerial panel titled “From Pledge to Plans: Electrifying the Transition” at the Global Renewables Hub during the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, the minister urged international partners to facilitate access to battery storage technologies and support decentralised renewable energy systems.
He said Pakistan’s solar transition was increasingly being driven by households making independent investments in rooftop solar installations, often without financial assistance from the government or international institutions.
Illustrating the scale of this transformation, Dr Malik recounted the story of a villager, Karamat Ali, who sold 12 buffaloes and cows to purchase rooftop solar panels.
He described livestock as a poor family’s financial security, providing milk, income and savings for emergencies and important household needs, including children’s marriages.
The villager, he said, decided to invest in solar energy because he considered it a more reliable and economically viable option than depending on grid electricity and unpredictable fuel prices.
The minister said the example reflected a broader trend, with hundreds of thousands of households making similar choices to secure affordable electricity and sustain their livelihoods.
He described the development as a people-driven energy revolution that was challenging the conventional centralised electricity distribution model.
According to Dr Malik, Pakistan had saved around $12 billion in LNG and gas imports through the growing adoption of rooftop solar, although he did not provide a timeframe or supporting calculation for the estimate.
He said households had effectively created a decentralised electricity generation system, with rooftops emerging as new centres of energy production.
Comparing the traditional electricity grid with a canal system, he said consumers situated upstream had historically enjoyed greater access to resources, while poorer communities downstream often received little benefit.
The emerging rooftop solar model, he added, offered an alternative in which households could generate electricity locally and store surplus power for use when sunlight was unavailable.
However, he stressed that solar panels alone were not sufficient to complete the transition, calling for investment in battery storage systems and improved grid connectivity.
“Wire them,” he urged international partners, arguing that households had already invested in electricity generation but lacked the financial resources and technological capacity to establish the necessary storage and connectivity infrastructure.
The minister said international cooperation should focus on sharing battery technologies and enabling poorer communities to benefit from decentralised renewable energy systems.
Outlining Pakistan’s priorities for international cooperation, Dr Malik called for climate financing to reach households directly rather than being absorbed by bureaucratic processes and institutional mechanisms.
He urged international partners to identify vulnerable communities and support people investing in renewable energy, saying financing arrangements should respond to the needs of households rather than being driven exclusively by supply-side considerations.
He also called for greater attention to the challenges faced by poorer communities, arguing that economic adversity could provide opportunities for innovation and accelerate the diffusion of renewable technologies.
Emphasising the need for practical cooperation, the minister said countries should prioritise tangible action over lengthy international declarations and resolutions.
He further called for consistency in energy and climate policies, cautioning against contradictory approaches to energy choices and the treatment of different fuel sources.
Recalling Pakistan’s devastating 2022 floods, Dr Malik described how families, particularly mothers and children, were forced to take refuge on rooftops while waiting for rescue and relief.
He said the experience illustrated the human cost of climate change in vulnerable countries, where communities measured disasters through the loss of homes, livelihoods and human security rather than only through changes in temperatures and river flows.
Referring to international support for countries affected by climate disasters, he questioned the gap between financial commitments and actual assistance reaching vulnerable communities.
He cited an estimated $40 billion in requirements, $800 million in commitments and $400 million collected for the Loss and Damage Fund, claiming that no money had reached affected communities to date.
The minister urged the international community to move beyond financial pledges and ensure that climate resources translated into practical support for vulnerable populations.
He said Pakistan’s experience showed that the energy transition could be accelerated when communities were empowered to respond to their own economic and energy needs, with international partners providing the financing, technology and infrastructure required to sustain the transformation.
