‘Pakistan needs to account for the hidden cost of coal mining and power generation’

KARACHI: Pakistan, the world's second-most polluted country, should conduct a study to measure the effects of coal ash and dust on its farming and natural resources, according to a study by a local think tank.

The report by the Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development and the Alliance for Climate Justice & Clean Energy found that Pakistan's carbon emissions are approximately 200 million tons a year and are increasing by more than 9 percent annually, driven by coal-fired power plants.

"Already ranked as the second most polluted country in the world following Bangladesh, Pakistan may soon have the unfortunate distinction of being at the top of this ranking thanks, in part, to its coal-based power generation," the report said. "The coal-based power plants can, therefore, inflict significant public health losses."

The study called for relevant government agencies to conduct proper accounting of the costs to animal and human health, and these costs should be included in the cost of electricity generated from coal-based power plants.

It also proposed that easily accessible and quality healthcare facilities should be readily available in villages around coal mines and power plants. "Studies should be conducted to ascertain the nature, extent, and cost of impacts that coal ash and dust are having on crops, soil and its fertility, vegetation, trees, plants, and bush."

Any proposed coal-based power plant and coal mine development must take into account its potential medical, agricultural, and environmental costs. "Arrangements must also be made for the mitigation and compensation of such costs before the project is developed. The report recommended that surface and groundwater resources must be safeguarded from the negative impacts of coal mining and coal-based power generation."

The report noted that the external costs of coal mining and coal-based power generation, such as underground water contamination, enclosures of local lands, dispossession and displacement of local communities, air pollution, and dust, are also making people sick globally.

"In India alone, at least 76 major coal ash pond accidents have been recorded by a 2020 study, leading to human deaths, loss of property, and extensive environmental pollution. These hazardous effects explain why a modeling analysis done by the Health Environment Alliance (HEAL) and the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) predicts that the European countries can save 28 billion euros in public health costs if their coal power plants are retired by 2030 instead of 2050," the report said.

It said that all these disturbing facts, however, have apparently failed to stop the use of coal and other fossil fuels. Approximately 77 percent of global energy needs were met through fossil fuels in 2021, with coal alone accounting for approximately 25 percent of these needs.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an association of the most industrialized states, similarly predicts that global demand for fossil fuels will nearly double by 2060.

"Governments in developing countries with less stringent environmental regulations are even less likely to put an end to the use of fossil fuels. They routinely collaborate with business enterprises to develop fossil fuel assets such as coal mines and power plants. Impacts of these assets are either often ignored or not taken into account while estimating the real cost of extracting and using fossil fuels," it added.