Environmental Discourse

By: Faraz Ahmed Chandio

Pakistan is currently facing environmental challenges along with other issues. The availability of adequate financial resources is critical to dealing with this, yet given present economic conditions, Pakistan cannot invest much in the environment on its own. Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb claims that Pakistan will need a huge sum of $348 billion by 2030 to tackle environmental issues, but he did not specify where this money would come from or how the environmental challenge would be addressed.

This has been the demeanour of government ministers in every term of power—problems are identified, but nothing is practised about their remediation. According to scientific research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), environmental pollution is adversely affecting human physical and mental performance. Due to climatic changes and the escalating pollution crisis, normal weather patterns and rainy seasons are also being severely impacted, while, as always, the state has adopted the policy of completely ignoring the disasters caused by rain. Politicians and administrative bodies vacate their offices and vanish from the public scene in order to prevent public outrage; they recognise that no relief can be guaranteed to the public in the current economic crisis and rampant corruption.

There are numerous institutions in Pakistan; nonetheless, their operational capability is inadequate. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was established in 2007. One of the main duties of this institution is to formulate and implement policies related to crisis management and relief work in disaster-affected areas. A national climate change policy was formulated in 2012 at the federal and now provincial levels, but unfortunately, political apathy is preventing its full implementation. During the previous term of power, the PTI government had also launched a tree-planting campaign (Billion Tree Tsunami Programme), which failed, and due to further unwise anti-environmental measures, Pakistan’s air has now become toxic, and rivers, springs, and streams have become foul-smelling.

Climatic shifts are spreading terrible diseases at an alarming rate. Crop production, grain nutrition, and livestock productivity are diminishing in the country. According to the Finance Division and the Pakistan Economic Survey, environmental degradation is not only causing a loss of about five hundred billion rupees to the Pakistani economy per annum, but it is also gradually increasing, due to which other economic challenges of the country are worsening. Although climatic shifts have impacted Pakistan the most in the South Asia region, temperature extremes, irregular weather patterns, cloudbursts, floods, sea storms, and food insecurity are the root climatic problems of our country. Setting forest fires is further increasing air pollution, which is also affecting wildlife, reducing the number of wild animals, and causing some species to become largely extinct. In addition, it is causing a lack of oxygen and excessive carbon dioxide emissions. Pakistan has become one of the countries with the least forest cover in the region, with only 4 percent of its land covered by forests. The ozone layer is being affected the most due to air pollution, which is the biggest threat to human life on Earth, whilst the reduction of mangrove forests in coastal areas is another step towards danger.

People in cities are facing extreme threats due to poor air quality, yet instead of planting trees, forests are being cut down. The timber mafia is ready to go to any extent for its profit; even in the 21st century, people are still using wood for cooking. Illegal tree felling is the norm in the northern regions. As a result, areas that were once forests are now bare. No attention is being paid to such environmental crimes, nor are the factors causing air pollution being addressed. Due to our poor policies, environmental pollution is continuously increasing. In both large and small cities, piles of garbage are everywhere; rickshaws emit smoke on the roads; factories melting rubber and other pollutants are also adversely affecting the environment, while air pollution is causing skin, eye, and respiratory diseases. In this context, no matter how many steps are taken to tackle pollution, the government of Pakistan should launch a public awareness campaign to prevent the air pollution crisis and save water reserves from being wasted. More dams should be built to conserve water from rains and floods, so that the loss of life and property is minimised. Sewerage systems, education, and health facilities must be improved in cities and villages. Children should be trained in environmentally friendly practices in educational institutions. Without compromising on cleanliness, garbage burning should be prohibited, penalised, and strictly enforced. All such vehicles, factories, and mills that are polluting the atmosphere should be banned.

Will anything be done to address air pollution? Perhaps little will be done, because countless conferences on environmental pollution are held here, suggestions and decisions are made to implement them, but nothing has been enforced since then. Now, another mega conference on environmental issues, “Breathe Pakistan,” is being held in Islamabad. The government should consider the suggestions of experts in this thought-provoking climate change conference and act on prescribed plans, because negotiations are not always enough. Getting rid of problems is possible only through practical action against the challenges posed.