On the 8th of October 2021 the UN Human Rights Council passed a historical resolution recognising access to a healthy and sustainable environment as a universal right (UN News, 2021). This recognition is not legally binding and may therefore seem symbolic at first glance. However, it has the potential to shape global standards and could truly help lawyers involved in climate mitigation build  t h e i r a r g u me n t s i n c a s e s i n v o l v i n g environmental issues and human rights (Reuters, 2021).

The day before this resolution, in Lahore, Pakistan, the local government of Punjab declared air pollution a calamity and called for action to mitigate this health hazard across the province (Dawn, 2021a). The Punjab region is one clear example of how climate issues (air pollution in this case) and their interaction with human activities have to be monitored and kept under control. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO),1 air pollution, primarily due to burning fossil fuels, causes 13 deaths per minute worldwide, which is approximatively 10% of the total deaths per minute (UN News, 2021). Whilst this is a global problem, focusing on the situation in Pakistan and its current pollution issues can provide useful insights.

In line with WHO indications for travelers, one of Pakistan’s general health risks is air pollution (IAMAT, 2020). Furthermore, according to the World Air Quality report, Pakistan was the second most polluted country in 2018 (Iqbal et Al. 2019), maintaining its position in 2019 and 2020, with an annual PM 2.5 average of 74.3 µg/m³ in 2020 (IQAir, 2020). However, the topic of pollution only became prominent in public debates in 2017, when actionable air quality data was published for the first time in Pakistan by socially active citizens. The data showed Lahore’s incredibly high levels of air pollution, shocking the public and becoming a media talking point (The Nation, 2021).

What is the cause of air pollution in Lahore, and more generally in the Pakistani region?

Pakistan’s air pollution levels have transformed into a dire health emergency, reducing life expectancy more than smoking, tuberculosis and unsafe water and sanitation (Iqbal et Al., 2019). Although children and people with chronic lung diseases are most vulnerable, air pollution continues to affect all of Pakistani society, leading to asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease and lung cancer (Iqbal et Al., 2019). Furthermore, it has been proven to affect the mental health of exposed individuals, especially children (Carrington, 2021).

Experts, as well as United Nations (UN) and World Bank reports, have pointed the finger at the transport sector as the biggest contributor to air pollution in Punjab, followed by the manufacturing industry and agriculture (Dawn, 2021a).

However, the issue is far more complex: air quality usually worsens through October and November because of the smoke produced by farmers in the wider Punjab burning crop residue (Dawn, 2021b). The Punjab Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has been instructed several times to contain crop burning, but it has never been able to ban it completely. Additionally, dropping temperatures results in creating a layer of warm air that traps air pollutants, preventing them from dispersing (The Nation, 2021). Therefore, the smog results in a seasonal plague that is created by human activities and is worsened by natural climatic changes. Another specific regional problem is the wide use of brick kilns, which are highly polluting. The government has been struggling with ensuring the conversion of brick kilns to the new zigzag technology (Dawn, 2021a).

What is the government doing to deal with this critical situation?

 Prime Minister Imran Khan has made it clear to his cabinet that tackling air pollution is a priority and authorities have taken measures to reduce pollution from brick kilns (The Nation, 2021). Under the Punjab Green Development Program (PGDP), there are plans to do more, including establishing 10 air quality monitoring stations in Lahore. Furthermore, in August Imran Khan inaugurated what officials say is the largest urban Miyawaki forest project globally. The forest, covering 12.5 acres and consisting of more than 160,000 plants, is expected to grow 10 times faster than normal due to the specific “Miyawaki” technique (from its creator Akira Miyawaki)2 (Farooq, 2021). The project is part of a bigger plan to plant 10 billion trees to contrast and reduce smog.

Alongside that, international organisations such as the British Council3 are actively pursuing ways to engage the younger generations and policymakers on shared platforms to give the cause a further push (Dawn, 2021b). Together with Higher Education Commission (HEC),4 they organised a discussion called ‘Education for Climate Action: How Universities can steer the climate crisis’ in Islamabad. One of the speakers was Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood, who said that climate change is an issue that calls for up-close and immediate action (Dawn, 2021b).

British Council Country Director Amir Ramzan said: “I am hopeful that the conversations taking place here will help us learn from each other, and together we can find a path to mainstream sustainable practices in higher education in Pakistan. I am also positive that this seminar will contribute to the national environmental discourse in higher education and HEC’s strategy on taking charge of our sustainable future through academic leadership” (Dawn, 2021b).

Despite Mr Ramzan’s positivity, to think that national institutional change can and will be pushed forward just by environmental discourse in higher education is to oversimplify the problem. In the past few years, the Punjab government has failed to comply with several recommendations as to procure the required number of air quality monitors, ban stubble burning, and disallow industries without emission controls (Dawn, 2021a), showing a lack of action on an institutional level. That is why the resolution passed in the UN Human Rights Council is particularly relevant to this case and will hopefully foster institutional change much needed in regions like Punjab.

According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the global recognition of the right to a healthy environment will support efforts to address environmental issues in a more coordinated and effective way (UN News, 2021). In this regard, the WHO’s environment chief said: “The next step will be how we translate that on the right to clean air and whether we can push, for instance, for the recognition of WHO’S Global Air Quality Guidelines and the levels of exposure to certain pollutants at a country level. It will also help us to move certain legislation and standards at the national level” (UN News, 2021). These are the next steps international organisations, together with national governments and private companies, have to bravely push forward. UN Human Rights Council resolutions might not be legally binding, but they do contain strong political commitments (UN News, 2021). If these commitments are taken seriously by the Punjab government, it will hopefully lead to a structural change in the air quality in the region and in the whole of Pakistan.

Sources

Dawn, (October 7, 2021b). Climate change requires immediate action: minister. Published in Dawn https://www.dawn.com/news/1650547/climate-change-requires-immediate-action-minister.

Dawn, (October 7, 2021a). Punjab govt declares smog a calamity. Published in Dawn https:// www.dawn.com/news/1650538/punjab-govt-declares-smog-a-calamity.

Farooq, Uman. (August 9, 2021). Pakistan seeks to bring fresh air to polluted cities with 10 billion trees. Published in Reuters https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-seeks-bring-fresh-air- polluted-cities-with-10-billion-trees-2021-08-09/.

Khokhar Muhammad Fahim, Anjum Muhammad Shehzaib, Salam Absus, Sinha Vinayak, Naja Manish, Tanimoto Hiroshi, Crawford James H., & Mead Mohamed Iqbal. (October 19, 2021). Countries of the Indo-Gangetic Plain must unite against air pollution. Published in Nature https://www. nature.com

/articles/d41586-021-02829-4.

Iqbal Maria, Malik Ali Osama, Bhulani Nizar Noorali, Chughtai Talaiha, Sabri Taha & Mohsin Ali Mustafa. (December 20, 2019). Why Pakistan needs to deal with air pollution on an emergency footing. Published in Dawn https://www.dawn.com/news/1521879.

Reuters, (October 9, 2021). UN declares access to a clean environment a human right. Published in Dawn https://www.dawn.com/news/1650915/un-declares-access-to-a-clean-environment-a-human- right.

The Nation, (October 18, 2021). Air quality in Lahore ‘unhealthy’, transition in weather brings back smog. Published in The Nation https://nation.com.pk/18-Oct-2021/air-quality-in-lahore-unhealthy- transition-in-weather-brings-back-smog.

IAMAT (International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers) (April 16, 2020). Pakistan General Health Risks. https://www.iamat.org/country/pakistan/risk/air-pollution#.

IQAir, (2020). World Air Quality Report, region & city PM2.5 Ranking. https://www.iqair.com/world- most-polluted-countries.

UN News, (October 15, 2021). The right to a clean and healthy environment: 6 things you need to know. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1103082.

Carrington, Damian. (August 27, 2021). Air pollution linked to more severe mental illness – study. Published in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/27/air-pollution- linked-to-more-severe-mental-illness-study.

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