With funding from the European Union (EU), the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has launched Energy Plus – a new programme fostering a climate-resilient and low-carbon economy and society in northern Pakistan. The €35m programme aims to improve access to clean energy for more than 350,000 people in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. It will prioritise underserved communities with limited or no access to sustainable and reliable energy and those unlikely to be reached by the national electricity grid in the near future. While Pakistan has made progress in increasing its electrification rate, significant disparities persist in access and reliability. 100% of the urban population has some level of energy access, yet reliability remains an issue. In contrast, only 54% of the rural population has access to energy, exacerbating environmental degradation and biodiversity losses due to heavy reliance on biomass – like firewood – from rural ecosystems as the primary energy source. Given that over half of the country’s population lives in rural areas, addressing these disparities and promoting reliable and clean energy alternatives are crucial steps towards sustainable development.