LAHORE: Industry experts called for addressing the issues contributing to the prevalence of smog as a top priority and treat it as a national emergency at a session titled “The Smog Equation” during the day-long Dawn Media’s “Breathe Pakistan conference” at the Expo centre on Saturday.

The session was moderated by Ms Romina Khalid with keynote speeches delivered by English Biscuit Manufacturers Managing Director & CEO Ms Zeelaf Munir and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Board of Management Chairman Asif Baig Mohamed. Panelists included OMODA & JAECOO Nexgen Autos by Nishat Commercial Lead Muhammad Afzal, Pakistan Cables Director Marketing & Brands Mariam Durran and Pakistan Agriculture Coalition CEO Kazim M Saeed.

“I believe that smog should not be taken as just a seasonal inconvenience, as it is a national emergency. It is destroying our economy, silently stealing the health of the people, including children,” said Romina Khurshid Alam, Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Climate Change while speaking to the audience.

She said that instead of indulging in a blame game on this issue, the government, private institutions, organisations, groups and individuals should join hands to address all issues causing smog right from transport to industry and agriculture to urban planning.

“I am really thankful to the Dawn Media Group for organising such an important event. Our goal is to find direction to understand who is the biggest contributor to smog,” she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms Zeelaf Munir appreciated the Dawn Media Group for providing an opportunity to discuss and speak on smog and air pollution. She said that air pollution and other environment-related issues were costing Pakistan 6pc of its total GDP every year. “And more than this, we are also spending on the health of the people affected by pollution,” she said, adding that being the chairperson of the Pakistan business council, she knew that the industry had been working since 2018 for a cleaner environment.

Ms Mariam Durrani said that the manufacturing sector had been working on these issues for a long time. “Recently, we shifted our factory to another place in Karachi. And the first thing we did there was planting trees. Besides this, we developed an urban forest in the industrial estate by planting 50,000 trees.

Asif Baig Mohamed said that his organisation took a great initiative of developing an urban forest under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) along with a tree adoption plan.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2025