Cabinet approves Green Building, Rainwater Harvesting Codes
This was stated by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Science and Technology, who further stated that these new national standards will ensure green, energy-efficient and water-conserving buildings. Minister Khalid Hussain Magsi, Ministry of Science and Technology, Secretary Sajid Baloch spearheaded the development of these codes, under the prime minister's vision, through extensive consultations with provinces, federal ministries and other relevant stakeholders and developed consensus.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's vision for environmental preservation, cleaner air for citizens and energy efficiency is the main force behind this development, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Green Building Code applies to all new buildings, with four plus floors, emphasising energy conservation, solar design, green roofs, energy efficient lighting, and integration of renewable energy sources etc.
It mandates the use of eco-friendly materials and Building Information Modeling (BIM) for efficient building management, significantly reducing energy consumption and enhancing indoor environmental quality.
The Rainwater Harvesting Code applies to residential, commercial and industrial buildings, mandating systems to collect, filter, and reuse rainwater. This initiative aims to address Pakistan's escalating water scarcity by promoting groundwater recharge and reducing dependency on municipal water supplies.
The codes have been approved as Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Bye-Laws and align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
These codes mark a pivotal move toward sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure actions will be greatly beneficial for a greener, energy efficient and more climate-resilient Pakistan, improving better quality of life for Pakistanis citizens as well as the planet.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
3 days ago
- Business Recorder
Cabinet approves Green Building, Rainwater Harvesting Codes
ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet approved the Green Building Code of Pakistan and the Rainwater Harvesting Provisions for Building Code of Pakistan for protecting the environment and the climate. This was stated by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Science and Technology, who further stated that these new national standards will ensure green, energy-efficient and water-conserving buildings. Minister Khalid Hussain Magsi, Ministry of Science and Technology, Secretary Sajid Baloch spearheaded the development of these codes, under the prime minister's vision, through extensive consultations with provinces, federal ministries and other relevant stakeholders and developed consensus. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's vision for environmental preservation, cleaner air for citizens and energy efficiency is the main force behind this development, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Green Building Code applies to all new buildings, with four plus floors, emphasising energy conservation, solar design, green roofs, energy efficient lighting, and integration of renewable energy sources etc. It mandates the use of eco-friendly materials and Building Information Modeling (BIM) for efficient building management, significantly reducing energy consumption and enhancing indoor environmental quality. The Rainwater Harvesting Code applies to residential, commercial and industrial buildings, mandating systems to collect, filter, and reuse rainwater. This initiative aims to address Pakistan's escalating water scarcity by promoting groundwater recharge and reducing dependency on municipal water supplies. The codes have been approved as Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Bye-Laws and align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These codes mark a pivotal move toward sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure actions will be greatly beneficial for a greener, energy efficient and more climate-resilient Pakistan, improving better quality of life for Pakistanis citizens as well as the planet. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
6 days ago
- Business Recorder
CCLC approves GBCP-2023, RWH-BCP-2023 developed by PEC
ISLAMABAD: In a major step toward sustainable development and climate resilience, the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC), under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar, has approved the Green Building Code of Pakistan (GBCP-2023) and the Rainwater Harvesting Provisions for the Building Code of Pakistan (RWH-BCP-2023). Developed by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), these landmark codes were presented by Federal Secretary for Science and Technology Sajid Baloch while Registrar PEC Engr. Khadim Hussain Bhatti and senior PEC officials were also present in the meeting. The CCLC appreciated PEC's efforts for developing the codes which are applicable in the whole country. The Green Building Code of Pakistan (GBCP-2023) introduces national standards for buildings with four or more stories, focusing on site sustainability, indoor air quality, energy and water conservation, emissions reduction, and protection of local biodiversity. Aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the code does not apply to single-family or low-rise dwellings, or buildings that do not use electricity, fossil fuels, or water. The code is also a structural benchmark under the IMF's Climate Public Investment Management Assessment (PIMA), underscoring its strategic importance. Complementing this initiative, the Rainwater Harvesting Provisions for Building Code of Pakistan (RWH-BCP-2023) outline mandatory systems for rainwater collection, storage, filtration, and reuse for both potable and non-potable use. These provisions apply to all residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, and are intended to address Pakistan's pressing water scarcity challenges by reducing dependence on municipal water sources. To support enforcement, the CCLC approved amendments in two core PEC bye-laws: the Conduct and Practice of Consulting Engineers Bye-Laws, 1986, and the Construction and Operation of Engineering Works Bye-Laws, 1987. These amendments legally incorporate both codes under Section 25(1) of the PEC Act, 1976. The draft Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) have been legally vetted by the Ministry of Law and Justice, ensuring full compliance with federal legislative procedures. Once approved by the federal cabinet, the GBCP-2023 and RWH-BCP-2023 will be implemented throughout Pakistan. Their enforcement will be carried out by the relevant provincial and federal authorities, engineering bodies, and development departments. Extensive consultations were held during the drafting process with stakeholders from all provinces and regions, including Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and various federal ministries. With broad-based support and legal backing, these codes represent a national commitment to sustainable, climate-resilient construction and water management practices.
Business Recorder
25-07-2025
- Business Recorder
Austerity, current account surplus, & economic resilience
Recently, the Prime Minister reportedly lauded economic performance with regard to country achieving current account surplus. In a developing country, which is facing gross external financing requirements on average of around $20 billion annually over the medium-term, and which is highly debt distressed this may be called a positive consequence for the economy, but only at the surface. Go any deeper, it spells more problems for the economy than it brings a happy news for, especially in terms of creating economic growth consequences and much-needed greater spending towards meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs), and overall, climate change-, and 'Pandemicene' phenomenon-related economic resilience. Moreover, overall balance of payments (BOP) – which is composed of current account, capital account, and financial account – remained in the negative anyways, with a deficit over FY25 standing at US$3.7 billion while the deficit, in fact, increased by $877 million from FY24. Hence, while reportedly the PM attributed this surplus to be 'Driven by record remittances, rising exports, and a laser focus on structural reforms…' none of the claims provides the needed stable foundations for this surplus which, during July-June 2024-25, stood at US$2.1 billion. Starting with exports, for June 2025, year-on-year (y-o-y) exports declined by US$81 million while y-o-y there was only a moderate increase in exports during July-June 2024-25, which stood at around US$1.4 billion. Workers' remittances during FY25 y-o-y while increased considerably by $8.1 billion, yet they nonetheless remain a very unreliable resources, given a world of polycrisis, especially the fast-unfolding climate change crisis creating very unstable consequences for economic growth globally, bringing in its wake a high-level of randomness, not to mention gains from a serious crackdown in recent years on indirect channels on capital flows may have already provided much of the increase, and in that sense future years at most may see only low-level to moderate increase in remittances. Structural reforms have remained the weakest link of the government's economic reform performance, and it is quite surprising that the PM has cited them as a leading source of improvement of current account surplus. Rather, more damage has been done to both domestic production, and exports through government's over-board austerity policies than any gains from marginal, and narrow-scoped structural reforms, both as outlined in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) extended fund facility (EFF) programme that is currently being followed, and beyond as well. Moreover, the procyclical, and neoliberal nature of economic policy – both within and outside of the IMF programme – has limited the scope of overall much-needed economic reforms, which otherwise required much better rationalized role of public sector, and would have meant greater emphasis of reforms on improving (a) economic institutional quality – both in terms of governance and incentive structures (including regulation) – and underlying (b) organizational, and (c) market reforms. Hence, while the current account surplus remains on very unstable ground – not to mention that surplus anyways is not a favourable outcome for the country in any meaningful way, but more on this later in the article — overall balance of payments situation remains in deficit as indicated earlier, which means greater need for debt for an already highly debt distressed country, given a low level of foreign direct investment (FDI), which remains one of the most reliable sources for the economy in terms of bringing sustainable economic growth, among other positive consequences. As indicated, over-board austerity policy has meant that cost of capital has been at a high level, which in a developing country like Pakistan, whose exports, and overall economic growth, are significantly import-dependent, has meant that this has taken a heavy toll on both of them — while exports have only increased by around a paltry US$2 billion during the last fiscal year, economic growth has continued to hover over the last few years around the population growth rate of a little more than 2 percent on average. Moreover, lack of economic growth has negatively impacted domestic resource mobilization which, in turn, has negatively impacted domestic debt sustainability, lack of much increase in exports, low level of FDI has not even allowed reduction in overall BOP deficit of FY25 over FY24, which overall has meant a low level of build-up of foreign exchange reserves, when compared with the high external debt distress, and overall gross external financing needs. Last but not the least, Pakistan remains among the top-ten most climate change challenged countries in the world. In addition to the climate change-related goals in SDGs, it fares very poorly with regard to other goals, including poverty, disease, and education. This, in turn, means that the country needs to spend a lot more than it currently is doing, especially after spending a lot in terms of interest payments on debt, not to mention the fact that the lack of multilateral spirit has resulted in low level of multilateral finances, which puts all the more pressure on government to increase an otherwise low level of expenditure for increasing overall level of economic resilience. Current account surplus, achieved after a lot of austerity-caused economic growth sacrifice, has neither been able to produce positive consequences for macroeconomic, and economic institutional quality due to poor level of economic reforms, which have also meant that the country still has poor showing for exports, FDI, and overall BOP, nor has it allowed reaching fiscal space for making adequate expenditures towards enhancing otherwise poor level of economic resilience. (The writer holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at the International Monetary Fund. His contact on 'X' (formerly 'Twitter') is @omerjaved7) Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
