Alliance for Climate Justice and Clean Energy (ACJCE) mobilizes communities affected by climate change so that they can have their grievances and problems heard and addressed in a just, equitable and sustainable manner. It, similarly, works for making energy accessibly, affordable, reliable and sustainable for everyone across Pakistan – particularly the marginalized and climate-vulnerable areas and communities. It also promotes public awareness through news media about the gaps between public interests/needs and policy preferences in the energy sector and lobbies with national and international policymakers and development institutions to make a transition towards zero carbon emissions possible. Following are the profiles of its six constituent organizations:
Policy research institute for equitable development (PRIED)Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) is a for-profit think tank based in Islamabad. PRIED is the successor of non-governmental organization Rural Development Policy Institute (RDPI), which was one of the founders and members of ACJCE in the year 2020 and 2021. PRIED is dedicated to working for climate justice and clean energy in Pakistan and through its work highlights the plight of marginalized communities affected by the country’s energy policies.
The organization is striving to bring a notable change in Pakistan’s energy sector by advocating for greener energy options through their work at PRIED. The primary work of PRIED revolves around producing evidence-based and actionable research to create awareness among people, advocating to bring favorable changes in policies for easy transition towards clean energy and engaging with the mass media to help reach wider audiences.
PRIED aims to promote a secure and healthy environment for communities bearing the burden of social and environmental issues instigated by Pakistan’s energy sector. It aims to achieve this by uniting the various actors in Pakistan’s energy sector to abandon fossil fuel and shift towards renewable energy options such as solar and wind for the betterment of people and the environment. PRIED hopes to play a significant role in accelerating Pakistan’s electricity transition from fossil fuel to clean energy sources. In order to make this a true and fair transition towards green energy, PRIED believes that the energy sector must place economic, social and environmental issues at the center of this transition.
Pakistan fisherfolk forum (PFF)Formally founded in 1998, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) is a registered unique civil society organisation working for advancement of social, economic, cultural and political rights of fisherfolk and peasants in Pakistan enjoying great mass support. The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) can be described as the one of the strongest social movements in Pakistan. The PFF is a democratic organisation with over 100,000 memberships across the country having a minimum 35% women ratio. PFF has proved itself as a nursery of producing the leaders in the fishing and peasants’ communities across Pakistan. Its struggle targets the policy issues relating to fishing rights, fish marketing & fish conservation, rehabilitation of the Indus Delta, Sustainable Fisheries Policy, abolition of Contract System over inland waters, historical fishing rights on entire water bodies for indigenous fishers, discouraging industrial fishing by deep sea trawlers & marine pollution, detention of fishermen. Besides, agrarian reforms, land reforms and promotion of organic farming are some other advocacy agenda of the organisation. The PFF also opposes coal power plants and supports alternative renewable energy projects.
The PFF’s capacities and capabilities of working in the field of early warning, rescue and evacuation, emergency response and early recovery have been recognized at national and international level. Thus, PFF is at home in the fields of CBDRM, DRR and climate change. The PFF also remained engaged with the government departments at district and provincial level to take the concern and problems of communities forward. The PFF’s engagement with the government provided an opportunity for both communities and the government to sit together and learn about each other’s experience and expertise.
PFF has an image of a future in which fishers and peasants live a life of dignity and realise their rights to life and livelihoods. They are organised to promote democracy, equity, equality, social justice, sustainable development and responsible use of natural resources.
Alternative law collective (ALC)The Alternative Law Collective comprises of lawyers and academics committed to social, economic and environmental justice. The Collective understands the work of law in the widest possible sense. Recognizing the possibilities and limitations of formal legal processes, we aim towards creative law-doing that is grounded in research that encompasses a range of pedagogical exercises, and ultimately leads to sustained engagements and interventions on issues of justice.
The Collective has a history of working on issues of environmental justice, labor law and indigenous rights. This has included working with fishing communities against the historical enclosure of waters, with communities displaced by large scale water infrastructure, and with communities in struggle over common lands. Each has involved innovating law-doing which whilst also invoking formal legal petitions, has focused on (re)-creating alternative discourses and practices such as those of the Lok Sath. Currently coal power production is a central concern for the Collective which has involved research, case work, and advocacy.
The knowledge forum (TKF)The Knowledge Forum is an independent organisation that seeks to produce knowledge-based resources to assist in interventions and advocacy for communities’ rights. The initiative is rooted in the ideology that knowledge strengthens and guides the direction of actions aimed at advancing rights and social justice processes.
The organisation has been founded by a group of human rights practitioners, development professionals, activists and legal experts. It strives to prioritise the inclusion of the community’s voice and participation in its knowledge generation efforts.
Through high-quality research and discourse curation, TKF aims to assist in the creation of a more informed perspective on complex themes that have a bearing on communities’ access to rights and participation in political, democratic and development processes.
Indus consortium (IC)Indus Consortium (IC) is one of Pakistan’s biggest networks working as an umbrella organisation of 60 national NGOs working on climate change, environment, and energy transition in Pakistan. It has been extensively working with both federal and provincial governments to make climate change-sensitive policies in different sectors.
IC is registered with SECP under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance of Pakistan. It is a certified member of the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy. The organisation has a memorandum of understanding with 30 public universities and government departments to engage youth. It has also formed youth networks on employability, entrepreneurship and the fight for inequality.
The organization has implemented over 40 multi-partner, multi-districts and multi-province, long-term disaster risk reduction, livelihoods, tax justice, irrigation water governance, climate change, youth employability and entrepreneurship, ICT, women empowerment and humanitarian related projects.
One of the main achievements of IC is the building of Grow Green Network, Pakistan, which is a civil society network of 22 active and registered CSOs of the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan. The initiative has resulted in building an alliance of trained national organizations at the district level which generated greater national debate right from the community to larger sections of society, including academia and media, around green recovery, green financing, and green development in Pakistan.
Alternate development services (ADS)Based in Islamabad, Alternate Development Services Pvt. Ltd. – hereafter called as ‘The Alternate’ – is a research and capacity development firm. It is registered with Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. The Alternate possesses elaborate experience of project implementation and assessment in the areas of human rights, environmental conservation, education, and the effects of global warming and climate on the society, economy and businesses.
The Alternate envisions generating enabling environment for informed policy positions, nature-friendly and people-centred development. It is rapidly emerging as an eminent entity striving to persuade, facilitate and monitor Pakistan’s corporate sector in transitioning from fossil-fuelled energy to renewable and sustainable sources of energy. ‘Employing alternative sources of energy not only helps minimizing global warming and arresting carbon emissions but business growth as well’, believes and campaigns the alternate for. Alternate and Renewable Energy Campaign (AREC-P) is its ongoing campaign for transforming the corporate sectors’ sources of energy towards the clean and green ones.
Lok SujagLok Sujag is a not-for-profit organization – a company limited by guarantee – based in the United Kingdom. It is a digital news organization for Pakistanis living in Pakistan as well as abroad and striving for a democratic, pluralistic, peaceful and prosperous Pakistan. loksujag.com is its website that commissions content from across the globe and publishes every day at 0600 GMT.