Integrated energy planning: Review of global practices for energy security and Paris Agreement implementation in Pakistan

This research aims to examine existing literature on integrated energy planning (IEP) by reviewing global practices for energy security and the Paris Agreement. In addition, this research aims to find research gaps and discuss key challenges in Pakistan's energy planning. The Paris Agreement focuses on reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, toward net-zero GHG emissions (NZE). Effective climate strategies are crucial for achieving Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by 2030 and NZE targets.

Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), this study firstly conducted a systematic literature review on IEP, GHG emissions and the Paris Agreement. Global literature reveals that IEP is effective for achieving both energy security and decarbonization. Some countries have already implemented IEP while submitting their NDCs. However, Pakistan lacks in implementation of IEP, and current literature is also limited in its linkages to the Paris Agreement. Most studies in Pakistan focused on the power sector, instead of overall energy planning, which overlooks discussions on electrification, clean energy transition, and decarbonization in the country.

This research is the foundation for a proposed study to build long-term policy scenarios for achieving NDCs and NZE targets in Pakistan. The methodology of the proposed research would be based on a bottom-up approach for discussing IEP framework, in order to discuss crucial issues for clean energy transition, electrification, and climate action plans in Pakistan. The proposed research should align with several SDGs targets, specifically, it addresses SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and SDG 13 (climate action).