Air pollution gravest challenge for Asia-Pacific region, says Malik Amin Aslam

Growing air pollution in the densely-populated Asia Pacific has emerged as a major challenge, with damaging impacts on the environment, public health and agricultural crop yields. However, tackling these adverse impacts are not possible without a coordinated policy and planning measures at the regional level.

This was stated by global experts on air pollution, environment and climate change during an online international dialogue on ‘Regional Conversation on Air Pollution in Asia-Pacific’ held on Tuesday to commemorate the first International Day of Clean Air for blue skies.

The dialogue had been organised jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said that in Asia-Pacific, over 40 per cent of air pollution is created by the transport sector and that it impacts over four billion people residents of the region. Moreover, it poses a grave risk to initiatives aimed at boosting socio-economic growth, food security and addressing health, malnutrition, health, education, environment and climate change issues.

“While air pollution is now the gravest of all challenges facing the Asia-Pacific region, it cannot be overcome without enhanced and well-coordinated regional response through viable policies and actions,” he emphasised.

He added that air pollution is very much a cross-border issue in many Asia-Pacific and South Asian countries, where inhabitants share the same air mass.

Blaming unsustainable production and consumption patterns in countries of both of the regions for the highly contaminated environment, Aslam said that it is affecting populations in other countries of the region as well.

Tapping into potential benefits of cross-border efforts in Asia-Pacific and South Asian regions to mitigate air pollution is key, the special assistant underlined.

“It can only be effectively tackled if we work together."

He pointed to the nation-wide ‘Clean Green Pakistan’ movement launched last year besides the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami Programme and shifting energy, industry and agriculture sectors on to clean energy sources. Besides, an ambitious electric vehicle policy is also being implemented which will see electric vehicles capture 30% of all the passenger vehicle and heavy-duty truck sales by 2030 and 90% by 2040. Crop burning, which also is the leading cause of air pollution, particularly during winter seasons, is also being discouraged, while efforts are underway to shift fossil fuel-run brick kilns on zig-zag technology to reduce the sector’s carbon footprint.

Ban Ki-Moon, the former secretary-general of the UN, said that with extreme air pollution events on the rise in the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific and South Asia regions, there is a pressing need for joint action at the global and regional scales to mitigate pollution and its fallouts. The former UN secretary-general noted that in many parts of the world extreme air pollution events have become a seasonal phenomenon, almost as reliable as the monsoon or autumn foliage.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9^th, 2020.