The report explains the documented impact on human health using clear and accessible scientific evidence.
A view of smog in Punjab province. PHOTO: AFP
Pakistan has published its first comprehensive national assessment on air pollution, presenting a scientific analysis of emissions sources, public health impacts and policy gaps in four major urban air basins.
The report, prepared by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), was launched at the Clean Air Summit held at a private university in Lahore, where environmental experts and policymakers described it as a critical milestone for evidence-based decision-making.
According to the assessment, air pollution has become the country’s most serious environmental and public health challenge, reducing average life expectancy by almost four years and contributing to more than 100,000 premature deaths a year. Fine particles, particularly PM2.5, are linked to increased cases of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, while sustained levels of pollution in major cities pose long-term risks for people in affected areas.
The report is based on satellite data, chemical transport models and PAQI’s real-time monitoring network, and offers disaggregated analyzes for the Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Peshawar air basins. Describes the key sources of urban pollution and explains their documented impacts on human health using clear and accessible scientific evidence.
In Lahore, emissions from transport, industrial activity and brick kilns remain the main contributors, and winter temperature inversions worsen pollution. Karachi’s pollution is largely due to industrial clusters operating on low-quality fuels and weak regulation, accounting for almost half of the city’s emissions.
In Rawalpindi-Islamabad, rapid growth in vehicular traffic has become the main source of particle pollution, while Peshawar’s valley-like geography and commercial transit corridors lead to higher average exposure levels compared to other cities.
PAQI founder Abid Omar said the report is the result of nearly a decade of data collection and scientific analysis aimed at transforming Pakistan’s political debate from conjecture to evidence.
The document also includes thematic chapters on fundamental rights, environmental justice and institutional reforms, with contributions from former Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Senator Sherry Rehman, Rafay Alam, Sarah Hayat, Dr Saima Saeed, Dr Sanval Nasim, Dr Kulsoom Ahmed and other experts. Omar said policymakers now have an unambiguous scientific picture that identifies where the problem lies and how to address it.
The report emphasizes that improving transportation systems, modernizing industrial units, transitioning brick kilns to cleaner technologies and enforcing continuous emissions monitoring can reduce pollution by up to 50 percent. It notes that such improvements would significantly reduce the health risks currently faced by urban populations across the country.
