Sindh energy and climate conference set for November 3
Seven organisations announced on Wednesday a two-day Sindh Energy and Climate Conference, to be held on November 3 and 4 in Karachi. The organisers described it as the province’s largest gathering on energy.
The event will bring together policymakers, experts, climate activists, affected communities and politicians, including Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah. The announcement was made at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club.
Climate Action Centre Director Yasir Darya said Sindh still lacked a proper energy policy of its own, even though the province supplied electricity to a major part of the country, especially Punjab. The conference, he said, would seek to chart what such a policy should look like.
Who is organising the conference
The event is being organised by Sath, the Climate Action Centre Karachi, the Civil Society Support Programme, the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation, The Knowledge Forum, Indus Consortium and the Pakistan Research Institute for Energy and Development (PRIED).
Darya said the organisers were aiming for maximum government engagement. Chief Minister Shah will attend on the second day. Ministries concerned with energy and climate, including the climate and labour ministries, have confirmed their participation, he said.
Community leaders from across Sindh will also take part, particularly from areas without electricity.
“The energy portfolio is spread across different ministries and offices, and yet there is no concentrated effort to address Sindh’s energy situation,” Darya said. He added that the province’s needs would only grow, and the government needed to plan for the next 20 to 25 years.
Ten sessions over two days
The conference will hold 10 sessions across the two days. Topics include energy access and climate justice, the transition away from fossil fuels, decentralisation of energy, wind and solar adoption, zero-emission transport and climate finance.
One question on the agenda is why ordinary people are not benefiting from the rapid growth in solar power. Darya noted that solar’s share in the power supply had risen sharply within a year, from 1 per cent to 50 per cent, while many people still had no electricity.
“We have a solar energy boom from 1 to 50 per cent, so why isn’t it reaching the locals?” he asked.
Stressing climate justice, he said the organisers’ aim was to “leave no one behind”. He added: “We need to move towards clean energy and the conference is meant to plan how exactly that can be done.”
The cost of solar for villagers
PRIED’s Mehwish Laghari raised a sharp practical point. She said villagers often had to buy solar panels in instalments at nearly three times the usual price. She questioned why they should be forced into such arrangements.
“Women mustn’t have to sell their gold to buy one or two plates of solar,” she said.
She stressed the importance of making solar panels available at subsidised rates through the government. That issue will also be taken up during the conference.
For households in Sindh’s villages, the point is direct. A solar panel can mean light at night, a fan in summer and a charged phone. But if the panel costs three times its normal price on instalments, the poorest families pay the most for the least reliable access.
A subsidised route through the government, as Laghari proposed, would change that equation. It would also test whether the solar boom can reach the homes that need it most, rather than only those that can already afford it.
Coal remains the biggest hurdle
Zeenia Shaukat of The Knowledge Forum identified coal as the biggest hurdle to clean energy in Pakistan. She said that while coal structures stood and functioned, there would be pushback against a shift to clean energy.
“Sindh has a special position to be a hub for coal energy across the country. Thus, it will be Sindh that decides whether Pakistan shifts to clean energy in the future,” she said.
That framing puts Sindh at the centre of a national choice, between coal on one side and wind, solar and decentralised supply on the other.
What to watch on November 3 and 4
When is the Sindh energy and climate conference?
Who is organising it?
- Dawn, “Two-day Sindh energy and climate moot announced” (28 October 2026): https://www.dawn.com/news/2040464/two-day-sindh-energy-and-climate-moot-announced
- Feature Pakistan, “Pakistan eyes $18 billion water security investment” (published): https://featurepakistan.com/pakistan-water-security-18-billion-investment-october-2026/
- Feature Pakistan, “CDWP clears Rs213 billion projects” (published): https://featurepakistan.com/cdwp-rs213-billion-projects-october-2026/
- Feature Pakistan, “Nasirabad pylon power cut” (published): https://featurepakistan.com/nasirabad-pylon-power-cut-october-2026/
- Feature Pakistan, “Sindh monsoon rainfall deficit 2026” (published): https://featurepakistan.com/sindh-monsoon-rainfall-deficit-2026/
