Announcements
Announcements
“The Cabinet has now approved Pakistan’s first Clean Air Policy,” wrote Syeda Hadika Jamshaid and Chris Malley, SEI Research Fellow in York, who contributed to the development of the policy.
In the op-ed The air is killing us. We know what we must do but will we? published by Pakistan’s largest newspaper DAWN, Jamshaid and Malley explain why action on air pollution is so crucial.
Factory smoke is the main source of pollution in the air. Punjab, Pakistan. Photo: Amir Mukhtar / Getty Images.
Toxic air kills around 128,000 people a year in Pakistan, according to Fair Finance Asia-Pakistan. In February alone, 19 people, including children, lost their lives in Karachi’s Keamari area due to respiratory failure. Despite flawed investigations, experts insist that the deaths are linked to toxic emissions and poor air quality.
Lahore and Karachi, two of Pakistan’s largest cities, rank among the top 10 cities for the world’s poorest air quality. The air is literally killing us, and it is about time we hit the brakes and take serious action to make Pakistan liveable again for its people.
Air pollution, which is among the largest risks to public health, and climate change are inextricably linked global issues. The sources contributing to emissions of air pollutants and climate-warming gases are often the same. This linkage presents an opportunity to deal with these two globally pressing challenges of air pollution and climate change together.
Compelled by this evidence, the federal cabinet on Thursday approved Pakistan’s first National Clean Air Policy, as recommended by the Ministry of Climate Change. So where do we go from here?
Chris Malley has supported over 25 countries as part of SEI’s engagement in the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, supporting the National Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Action Planning (SNAP) initiative to increase national capacity to take action to achieve low emission development.
Feature / The first study to quantify the global burden of asthma linked to air pollution finds that it triggers up to 33 million annual emergency room visits.
Project / On behalf of CCAC, UNEP is cooperating with SEI to support the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Kenya under SNAP.
Journal article / This study evaluates the inclusion of SLCP and air pollutant mitigation within NDCs that were submitted between 2015 and 2022.
Feature / Fewer than 8% of people living in Asia breathe clean air. A new report co-authored by SEI researchers proposes 25 solutions to this health crisis.
Initiative / This initiative enables integrated national planning for Nationally Determined Contributions and Sustainable Development Goals.
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