Islamabad: The National Clean Air Policy and the Hajj Policy 2023 have received preliminary approval from the Federal Cabinet. On the recommendation of the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Federal Cabinet approved the National Accountability Amendment Ordinance 2023 at its meeting on Thursday in Islamabad, which was presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Prime Minister, who presided over the meeting, stated that the higher authorities should quickly complete an effective and comprehensive strategy with the cooperation of the Saudi Arabian authorities in order to provide Pakistani pilgrims with the best facilities during their journey and Hajj. The Prime Minister praised the Ministry of Climate Change for establishing the National Clean Air Policy and praised its formulation.
AThe prime minister said, the necessary actions must be taken in order to effectively implement the clean air policy. The cabinet was made aware of Pakistan’s significant rise in air pollution over time. According to the Air Quality Index Report 2022–2023, Karachi and Lahore are the two Pakistani cities with the worst air pollution. The report claims that air pollution in Pakistan decreased life expectancy by 2.7 years on average. A 2016 World Bank report claims that air pollution causes Pakistan’s economy to lose a significant amount of money each year. According to information provided, smog in cities has played a significant role in an enormous rise in the number of accidents and illnesses in recent years.
In this regard, the Ministry of Climate Change formulated a comprehensive policy to protect citizens’ health, reduce annual deaths, improve agriculture and improve air quality in urban and rural areas.
The policy proposes raising fuel standards from Euro 5 to Euro 6, stricter regulations for industrial emissions, innovation in agriculture and effective treatment of crop waste incineration, universal waste disposal practices and low-emission cooking methods.
It was further informed that the implementation of the policy will reduce the emission of toxic gases by an average of 40 percent in the next ten years.
