This winter, Pakistan is experiencing its sixth season of intense smog. Lahore, in particular, consistently takes top spot in the list of most polluted cities in the world, a position it continues to hold with AQI which has already topped 400. Residents of Karachi, Gujranwala, and Islamabad are also breathing in toxic air, while other parts of Pakistan are equally exposed to hazardous levels of air pollutants.
Our officials, on the other hand, sound like a broken record by blaming India year after year for cross-border pollution. While that might explain part of the problem, it is certainly not the main cause, and any attempts to outsource responsibility is nothing but populist rhetoric. It is time we collectively understand the causes of air pollution, learn from countries that have successfully tackled it, and implement similar measures at home. Creating anti-smog task forces, closing down schools and offices during high smog days, and taking punitive action against farmers burning crops are band-aid measures that look impactful on television, but do little to save us from poisonous air come winter months.
The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution found that 128,000 Pakistanis die of air-pollution related illnesses every year. This includes asthma, lung damage, bronchial infections, strokes, heart problems and shortened life expectancy. An entire generation of kids who breathe and play in toxic air risk growing up with irredeemable adverse health effects. The issue is critical, and reforms had to be taken yesterday. But there is no high-level debate or a targeted approach to that effect. Instead, the entire country is focused on climate reparations from developed countries.
It is true that Pakistan needs to be fairly compensated by countries that bear direct responsibility for climate change-related extreme weather events. But it must be emphasized that air pollution is primarily an anthropogenic home-grown phenomenon. Blaming Western Countries, or India for that matter, is misdirected and will do nothing to improve the situation in Pakistan.
The time for Pakistan to implement similar reforms is beyond due. It is a shame if a country cannot even offer its citizens healthy, safe, and comfortable lives. Blue skies and clean air should not be a luxury. It is a basic requirement, now it is time we started treating them as such.
Smog is caused by human activities such as vehicular emissions, industrial pollution, fossil-fuel fired power plants and burning of waste material. It is compounded by a high population density and the rapid decline of tree cover due to expansion of roads, and construction of underpasses. Our power plan for the next ten years talks little of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Emphasis, instead, is placed on cost saving measures such as indigenous sources of coal for power generation. Extraction from Thar’s coal mines has picked up pace and new industries and power plants will soon be set up there. Responsibility for environmental protection was devolved to the provinces in 2011 but the existing laws are weak, and enforcement is poor. Despite the blame game with India, there is a lack of cross-border air quality data. Poor urban planning and a dearth of reformist vision is part of the poor social attitude that ensures we remain stuck in the smog-alarm-rain-forget cycle every year.
To make any meaningful change, we must learn from countries that have successfully implemented reforms. Japan, for example, serves as a good model. In the latter half of the 20th century, Japan experienced worsening air pollution due to rapid economic growth and industrial activity, and the resultant build-up of soot, dust, and nitrous and sulphur oxides. To tackle this, Japan empowered local governments and passed laws such as the Municipal Environmental Protection Ordinance of Tokyo. Constitutional changes in air pollution control laws allowed the country to regulate industrial smoke emissions. Japan also overhauled their transportation policy through the passage of the Diesel Vehicle Regulations and the Automobile NOx PM Law which set a maximum permitted level of vehicle exhaust. Non-conforming vehicles had to be replaced and it promoted the use LPG, hybrid, and electric vehicles. A series of court cases also set the right precedent. The Amagashi pollution lawsuit declared particulate matter from diesel vehicles to be correlated with cancer and respiratory disease. This combination of legislative, judicial, and executive action compelled the public to take notice and change their habits as well.
Such changes also have a spill-over effect on the financial regime of the country. China serves as another successful example. In 2015, the Chinese government declared a war on air pollution and mainstreamed green financing in financial institutions for enterprises to reduce air pollutants and carbon emissions by increasing energy efficiency, investing in clean energy, and tightening pollution controls. The Jing-Jin-Ji region had one of the worst air quality numbers in China, but through such reforms was able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.5 million tons per year.
The time for Pakistan to implement similar reforms is beyond due. It is a shame if a country cannot even offer its citizens healthy, safe, and comfortable lives. Blue skies and clean air should not be a luxury. It is a basic requirement, now it is time we started treating them as such.
