The primary contributors to Pakistan’s pollution crisis are industrial emissions.
Pakistan has long decried how it is among the countries worst affected by climate change. Even though it is a minor contributor to global pollution, a new study has found that in at least one pollution category, Pakistan is a world leader.
Residents of cities such as Lahore, Peshawar, Faisalabad and Quetta will be completely unsurprised by the fact that Pakistan ranked third-worst in the world in a new report by Swiss air quality products maker IQAir.
The report, based on data from more than 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations in 138 countries, territories and regions, says the African nation of Chad has the worst air quality in the world.
With 91.5 micrograms of pollutant per cubic metre, the country’s air is 18 times more than what the WHO recommends. Bangladesh, with 78, and Pakistan, with 73.7, are second and third, respectively. No other country has pollution higher than 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
Congo, with 58.2, and India, with 50.6, are fourth and fifth, respectively. Only seven countries – Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Estonia, Grenada, Iceland and New Zealand – met the WHO’s guideline of five micrograms of pollutant per cubic metre, and only 17% of all cities measured met the same guideline.
But while many cities and countries have seen improvements in air quality, most major cities in Pakistan went in the wrong direction.
Government policies have not helped – the primary contributors to Pakistan’s pollution crisis are industrial emissions, vehicular exhaust and the notorious practice of biomass burning, all of which are being phased out by the rest of the world, even poor countries.
The situation reached such a critical level last year that the Punjab government declared a state of calamity, prompting lockdowns and school closures in an attempt to protect public health.
But little was done to address the core problem. If we are to change our trajectory, the government, citizens and industry must work hand-in-hand to clear the air, or even more parts of the country will become literally unbreathable.
Editorial published in the Express Tribune on 13th March 2025
