‘Air pollution reduction can increase Karachiites’ life expectancy by 2.7 years’

Reduction in air pollution can gain 2.7 years of life expectancy for the residents of Karachi, 7.5 years of life expectancy for the residents of Lahore, 4.5 years for people living in Islamabad.

Each person in Pakistan has annual mean exposure of particulate matter pollution to 63 µg/m3, which is 12 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended 5 µg/m3.

Sixty-nine point five per cent of Pakistan’s population will lose up to 5 years of their lives to neurological, cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases with the current levels of air pollution and 17 per cent of deaths in Pakistan are attributed to air pollution.

Fair Finance Pakistan launched its campaign and report ‘LegislateNow’ on Twitter on Thursday to compliment the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies. The Fair Finance Pakistan is a member of Fair Finance Asia (fairfinanceasia.org) and Fair Finance International (fairfinanceguide.org), flagship programs of Oxfam, funded by the Swedish International Development Agency and currently operational in over 20 countries across Asia.

As per their report, 25 per cent of annual deaths due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are caused by exposure to particulate pollution in the air. Fair Finance Pakistan’s campaign #LegislateNow calls for introducing clean air legislation, enhanced air quality monitoring measures and greater investments in low-carbon technology to improve air quality for the people of Pakistan.

Fair Finance Pakistan is journeying towards making clean air a fundamental human right in Pakistan. Commemorating International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, Fair Finance Pakistan has launched a digital campaign #LegislateNow which will focus on this year’s theme #Together for Clean Air and voice civil society’s perspective on legislation, stronger public-private partnerships, technology investments and repurposing finance role for overcoming environmental pollution.

Campaign data shows Punjab, Islamabad Capital Territory and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the top-most air polluted provinces and their population is likely to lose upto 4.6 years of life expectancy. The health impacts of air pollution drive up disease burden and associated health care costs, lower productive capacity, and result in lost days worked.

In his Twitter message, Asim Jaffry, Country Programme Lead, Fair Finance Pakistan, said that LegislateNow asks for the policy circles and other stakeholders to introduce clean air legislation to uplift people out of the air pollution crisis.

Americans, he said, are exposed to 65 per cent less particulate pollution than in 1970, prior to the passage of the Clean Air Act. “Pakistan has great potential to replicate US learnings on this front.”

As for the solution, the report said that the Air Quality Life Index 2023 reports Pakistanis can gain up to 7 years of life if PM 2.5 levels could be reduced from current levels to the WHO- recommended level of 5µg/m3.

Major urban cities in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Karachi have very high levels of particulate matter pollution due to industrial emissions. Reduction in carbon emissions from industries can prolong lives, keep people healthy and productive and contribute positively to the Gross Domestic Product.

For instance, the report said, reduction of current PM 2.5 levels of 59.65µg/m3 in the sports goods manufacturing city of Sialkot can add up to 5.4 years of life expectancy. Similarly, residents of Gujranwala and Faisalabad stand to add 5.6 and 3.8 years to their life expectancy if air pollution concentration is reduced to the WHO guidelines.

Combustion of biomass fuels for cooking and heating, emissions from small industries such as brick kilns, burning of municipal and agricultural waste are some of the unique sources of air pollution in Pakistan which affect both indoor and ambient air quality in urban and rural areas, and cause serious health impacts in particular on vulnerable groups such as women, children, and low-income neighborhoods.