ISLAMABAD: Air pollution is costing Pakistan an estimated $22 billion annually—equivalent to 6.5% of the country’s GDP—Senator Sherry Rehman said during a meeting on Thursday.
Chairing a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Climate Change, the senior Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader emphasised the severe impact of climate change on the country’s economy and human capital.
“Previous statistics showed 128,000 pollution-related deaths annually, but fresh data places the figure at 256,000 deaths every year,” she said during the meeting.
Senator Rehman clarified that while fog is a natural winter occurrence, smog is a hazardous mix of chemical pollutants, warning that air pollution now claims more lives than terrorism.
The PPP leader also lamented Lahore’s repeated ranking among cities with dangerously poor air quality. She noted that emissions from brick kilns, industries, and vehicles continue to degrade the country’s air quality.
During the meeting, the committee chairperson expressed frustration over the lack of reliable data from the director general of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Senator Rehman highlighted that smog in Punjab alone is affecting 11 million children under the age of five, emphasizing that young children breathe twice as fast as adults, making them particularly vulnerable to deadly respiratory illnesses.
She noted that Pakistan was declared the third most polluted country in the world last year, with Lahore consistently ranked as the most polluted city globally. Describing the smog as “apocalyptic,” the senator warned that it is reducing average life expectancy by 3.7 to 4.6 years.
Senator Rehman pointed out that the federal government had previously decided against shutting down brick kilns, opting instead to equip them with zigzag technology, given that most are operated by low-income workers.
She concluded by stressing the importance of public-private partnerships to expand air quality monitoring across Pakistan.
