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| Pakistan's Air Pollution Problem: A Public Health Emergency with Obvious Solutions |
| Abid Omar* |
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| Pakistan has a public health emergency in the form of air pollution that impacts all of major urban areas, and with an especially significant impact on Punjab where there is an estimated reduction of life expectancy by five years. This problem has largely gone unnoticed, due to the lack of available data, monitoring, and awareness. This presentation discusses the results of a community-based monitoring initiative, presenting city-level data from 2016 till now that shows the problem is much worse than previously recorded. Solutions are also presented which will have immediate short-term results, primarily in the form of a tiered approach to (a) reducing transportation emissions by upgrading fuel standards; and (b) reducing hazardous emissions from industrial and biomass combustion sources. Equally important to these solutions is a nation-wide monitoring and policy framework for implementation and enforcement, which will additionally help achieve Pakistan’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) towards reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) as well as Pakistan’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Mr Abid Omar is the Founder of the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative.
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