Significant shortcomings were found in the National Clean Air Policy (NCAP) and the Punjab Clean Air Plan (PbCAP) in addressing hazardous air pollution effectively, according to a detailed review of the policies conducted by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
Pakistan introduced NCAP in March and PbCAP in April to set targets for air pollution concentration, identify actions to mitigate air pollution, and outline a plan for coordinating action on air quality management. However, the CREA study found that both policies were inadequate to curtail pollution levels in the country, especially in Punjab.
Pakistan faces some of the worst air pollution in the world. Air pollution shortens Pakistani lives by over five to seven years on average. The country is also currently facing the overwhelming effects of climate change head on, including flooding in August 2022 so devastating that one-third of the country was fully submerged, affecting more than 33 million people.
While acknowledging some positive aspects, like revised emission standards and prioritizing emission inventories, the review highlighted critical deficiencies, emphasizing the pressing need for more robust and inclusive measures.
It identified the lack of reduction in ambient air quality concentration standards, relaxed emission standards proposed, insufficient emphasis on reducing emission loads, and a gap in addressing transboundary pollution.
“The creation of a national clean air policy should serve as a foundation for targeted and evidence-based initiatives,” said Sunil Dahiya, South Asia Analyst at CREA.
He stressed the importance of learning from global policies and continuously evolving and improving the approach.
“In the absence of sectoral emission load reduction targets for cities and larger air-shed, there is no effective direction and goal for respective authorities to reduce air pollution levels.” Dawar Butt, Researcher at CREA, stated, “the policies need to comprehensively cater to the major polluting sectors, such as transport, industry and power sector, given that we have seen untargeted administrative restrictions imposed in parts of Punjab did not yield any significant improvement, which can only be achieved by setting medium-to-long term sectoral emissions load targets at the city or region level.”
CREA recommendations
To rectify these shortcomings, CREA recommended enhancing ambient air quality monitoring, adopting a reduction-based approach for emissions, and setting ambitious targets for polluting sectors, cities, and provinces.
They stressed the need for regional, provincial, and national clean air action plans based on an air-shed pollution reduction approach. Tightening emission standards for industries, coupled with increased transparency in reporting air quality data and action plans, was also emphasized.
CREA also advocated for a legal framework to strengthen policies and empower provincial environmental protection agencies (EPAs) to establish regional and city-level clean air action plans, providing clearer directions for implementation.