Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by enhancing efficiency and transparency in Pakistan’s leather industry

Pakistan’s leather industry is a strategic manufacturing and export sector, supporting employment, SME growth and value addition. However, the sector, in particular tanneries, faces increasing environmental, regulatory and market pressures. Outdated technologies, inefficient energy and chemical use, weak waste and wastewater management, and limited transparency systems at tannery level result in high GHG emissions and constrain compliance with international sustainability requirements as the critical enabler. Weak institutional capacities, the absence of sector-specific GHG baselines and MRV systems and insufficient access to appropriate finance further risk locking the sector into a high-emission pathway and weakening access to premium export markets.

The project aims to support the transition of Pakistan’s leather manufacturing sector towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient and transparent industry, contributing to Pakistan’s NDC mitigation ambition. Anchored in the Sialkot Tannery Zone (STZ) in Sialkot, Punjab, the project focuses on reducing GHG emissions in the leather tanning process. The objective will be achieved by deploying RECP and low-carbon technologies, renewable energy solutions, chemical and energy efficiency measures, and MRV tools at enterprise and cluster level. The project will establish six demonstration tanneries, develop sector-specific GHG baselines and LCA/MRV systems, facilitate access to green finance and support policy integration, stakeholder coordination, capacity development and replication.

Over a 15-year period, the project is expected to directly mitigate 469,358 t CO₂e and indirectly mitigate 332,427 t CO₂e through replication, while reducing chemical pollution, improving wastewater and waste management, strengthening OHS, and enhancing Pakistan’s competitiveness in sustainable leather markets.