Islamabad: The Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination convened at Parliament House in Islamabad, with a focus on Pakistan’s outdated emission standards and the need for immediate reforms to improve air quality.
The Committee, chaired by Ms. Munaza Hassan, MNA, received a comprehensive briefing on emission standards from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination and the ICT Administration. The briefing highlighted that the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) is struggling with insufficient financial and technical resources to effectively monitor air quality. Currently, Pakistan’s vehicle emission standards are set at Euro-II, significantly behind the more stringent Euro-V and Euro-VI standards.
Ms. Munaza Hassan expressed concerns over the lack of mechanisms to enforce compliance with emission standards and called for a detailed and time-bound improvement plan. The Committee noted the pressing need to update the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) to reflect international norms and address the worsening air quality.
Experts at the meeting suggested various management actions to potentially reduce air pollution by up to 30 percent. These include implementing staggered school and office timings, enhancing road infrastructure, and retrofitting older vehicles with catalytic converters. Transitioning to Euro-V compliant fuels and mandating emission testing during vehicle transfers were also proposed.
The Committee directed the Ministry to draft a comprehensive air quality improvement plan within four weeks and stressed the importance of increasing funding for the Ministry. It was also emphasized that Pakistan’s climate agenda should be a priority in international dialogues. Ms. Munaza Hassan concluded the meeting with a call for making Islamabad a model city in terms of air quality.
The session was attended by various Members of the National Assembly and senior officials from relevant ministries and agencies, as well as air quality experts Dr. Faheem Khokhar and Dr. Aazir Khan.