ISLAMABAD: Two to three Pakistani cities regularly rank among the top 20 most polluted in the world, a gathering of parliamentarians was told at the National Assembly Secretariat on Tuesday.

MNAs and senators were attending a meeting organised by Air Quality Asia, where they deliberated over parliament’s role in meeting the clean air challenge and organisers cautioned parliamentarians of the consequences of failing to mitigate the impact of climate change.

MPs were told that air pollution is the greatest health concern today, killing more people that Aids, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Two to three Pakistani cities regularly among 20 most polluted cities in the world, MNAs and senators told

“The annual cost of health in Pakistan caused by deteriorating air quality is 6pc of the GDP,” Air Quality Asia President Shazia Rafi said.

Parliamentarians were told that countries such as the United States and China have reduced air pollution to safe levels by introducing monitoring systems, selling deadlines to accomplish targets and by improving public and private transport systems.

However, investment in ‘dirty’ or fossil fuels is still higher than investment in renewable energy.

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser assured his government’s support for bringing emissions down to safe limits, giving examples of massive plantation campaigns to combat air pollution.

“Pakistan must fulfil its international commitment to completely eliminate air pollution to levels where airborne disease will be a thing of the past,” Mr Qaiser said.

He emphasised that equally if not more important than planting saplings in forest areas was to increase green cover in cities and towns, which turned into furnaces during the summer due to less vegetation.

Senator Sherry Rehman, who chairs the Climate Change Caucus,

said Pakistan is a victim of climate injustice even though its carbon footprint is the bare minimum.

“There are parts of the country that are becoming unliveable. We were appalled to learn when schools had to close down in Lahore due to extensive air pollution and children could not attend classes,” she added.

She said: “We are gathered here today to amplify that if we do not take measures now, the country will become uninhabitable like they show in post-apocalyptic movies.”

Describing the poor air quality in Pakistan as a crisis, Senator Rehman said the complex issue needs to be addressed, which would require costly interrelated action and better information, such as data sharing from provinces.

The convenor of the Sustainable Development Goals Taskforce, MNA Riaz Fatyana, argued that while the rest of the world is phasing out old technologies, Pakistan is adopting them.

“China is phasing out coal-powered plants while Pakistan is installing them. We can feel the rise in temperature in Sahiwal, where a coal-powered plant was installed. Similarly, while many countries are discouraging eucalyptus Pakistan is planting them,” he said.

Mr Fatyana said legislation is needed to ensure efforts to mitigate the impact of global warming, followed by strict implementation of the law.

MNA Naveed Qamar said clean air is crucial to the future of Pakistan and its next generation.

The issue of climate change has long been neglected, he said, including in parliament.

“Now we have to take charge to grapple with this issue and its many dimensions. Health of the population in general and children are directly affected by the increasing air pollution,” he said.

He added in a hopeful tone that countries have achieved clean air, and Pakistan can as well.

Ministry of Climate Change Additional Secretary Babar Hayat Tarar recounted for the gathering the steps taken by the government to tackle deteriorating air quality.

These included sealing factories – predominantly steel mills, introducing environmentally friendly technology in brick kilns, tree plantations, banning plastics in the ministry – which will be duplicated in the Prime Minister House, government departments and the capital.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2019