Local communities in mining regions are vulnerable to water scarcity risks caused by extensive mining and changing climate. To mitigate such risks, we adopt a non-market valuation of low income communities’ preferences for improved access to water services, as an effort to develop pro-poor policies that bring long-term water security and benefits to the local people. Using data collected from 268 households from the mining site in the Thar coalfield (Pakistan), we examine the household willingness to pay (WTP) for all major uses based on hypothetical policy scenarios. Results show that the mean WTP was estimated to be PKR 3921 (USD 38) for risk averting services (S1) and PKR 4927 (USD 48.13) for domestic pipelines and more decentralized water systems (S2) per month. We found that the mean WTP for S1 is 11.8% and for S2 is 16.6% more than the existing water-related expenditures of households. Age of household head, income level, project employment, livestock, farm income, and water quality are the significant factors influencing their WTP. These findings provide empirical evidence to policymakers and resource managers to implement cost-effective water management plans that provide multiple ecosystem service benefits, thereby potentially aiding pro-poor and sustainable economic growth in mining regions.

In the backdrop of COVID19 recovery, Pakistan is still struggling to cope with the economic challenges and disruptions caused in the energy supply chain. On one hand where COVID has brought serious socio-economic costs and prolonged delays, it has also provided opportunity for developing countries such as Pakistan to “build-forward-better” their economies in a more sustainable and climate friendly manner. This study particularly highlights the impact of COVID on energy supply and demand sectors of Pakistan, its near- and long-term impacts, and what policy interventions can be adopted to put Pakistan on-track to achieve its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The economic focus in on “Green Recovery” and what key interventions will foster a rapid transition towards decarbonization in Pakistan. Low Emission Analysis Platform (LEAP) model is used to provide energy sector outlook (2020-2040) of Pakistan under different scenario i.e., Pre COVID growth, Business-as-Usual, Slow Recovery, and Green Recovery from COVID. The results obtained from the model depicts that following a green recovery scenario, Pakistan can reduce around 10 Mtoe (9%) of its total energy use, 53 TWh of electricity, 19 Mt of emissions from demand sectors, and 11 Mt of emissions from the power sector by 2030. For total levelized cost of the power sector, the green recovery scenario represents a generation cost of $13 billion by 2030 which further highlights that energy efficiency could lead to cost savings of approximately $3 billion each year by 2030. Green recovery is however still a daunting task as it would require economic stimulus of $8 billion only to recover to its pre COVID scenario and total investments of $120 billion by 2030.