ISLAMABAD: Pakistan now ranks among the five most vulnerable countries to the impact of climate change, Ministry of Climate Change Additional Secretary Jaudat Aziz told a parliamentary body on Thursday.

“It takes seven days for carbon matter after burning a piece of paper to travel and settle on glaciers. If we do not play our part, our rivers will run dry in 20 to 30 years,” Mr Aziz told the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights.

The committee met for a briefing on the failure to improve air quality across the country and particularly in Punjab. Members acknowledged air pollution as a human rights concern that causes public health crises.

Members and environmentalists identified the petroleum and energy sectors as perpetrators for failing to improve fuel quality in two decades, today the leading cause of deteriorating air quality.

Speakers also noted that there were no fuel standards linked to air quality.

Rafay Alam, a lawyer and advocate for the conservation of the environment, said Pakistan’s greenhouse gas emissions will rise by 400pc by 2030.

“If our grand plan to improve our economy is to put a highway through to China and put diesel trucks on it, we will be accused of ecocide like Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro,” he said.

Environmentalists said that while Pakistan is one of the smallest contributors to global greenhouse gases, it is amongst the countries that release some of the highest amounts of aerosol, which causes smog.

The committee was told that breathing aerosol causes cancer and stunting in children. More than 130,000 Pakistanis due from air pollution every year, while one million die in India and even more in China.

Despite government efforts to improve the quality of petrol, vehicles in Pakistan are not compatible with Euro-4 quality fuel, which is expected to be introduced in the country by next year.

The committee learnt that oil refineries in Pakistan were given concessions in prices to upgrade their units and improve fuel quality.

“But the refineries have done nothing along those lines in the last 18 years,” an environmentalist told senators.

Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, who chairs the committee, took notice of negligence by oil refineries, which pocketed between Rs250 billion and Rs500bn instead of upgrading their units.

“Refineries have been availing all the benefits in pricing mechanisms but failed to deliver. Emissions from the transport sector can only be reduced by improving fuel quality. We will invite CEOs and chairmen of refineries, issue warrants to them, name and shame them for failing to fulfil their responsibilities,” he said.

The committee also proposed that Pakistan switch to Euro 6 fuel quality from Euro 2 within the shortest possible time.

Punjab Environment Protection Agency Director General Tanveer Wariach the transport sector’s contribution to poor air quality was the highest at 43pc, followed by industries at 25pc, stubble burning at 20pc and power plants at 12pc.

He said the owners of some 1,500 brick kilns and 1,000 furnaces in Lahore, Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Kasur burn the most rubber, tyres and solid waste as fuel.

Owners of around 8,000 brick kilns in Punjab have been persuaded to the environmentally friendly and fuel efficient zigzag technology, he said, adding that more than 500 kilns have already made the switch.

He said the government should support all brick kilns in switching over to zigzag technology by Dec 31, 2020. Zigzag technology can reduce contaminants in emissions by 80pc.

“The government can offer loans or grants to owners who cannot immediately afford to install the technology,” he said.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2019