World Environment Day: ‘Getting factories to comply with rules next to impossible’
EPD says they don’t have the resources to bring about a marked change.
EPA urges factories to comply with eco-friendly practices. PHOTOS: MUHAMMAD SADAQAT
LAHORE:
Seven Billion Dreams, One Planet – Consume with Care, the theme for World Environment Day 2015, focuses on the idea of sustainable development which has become an important part of the global narrative on environment. The day will be observed around the world on Friday (today).
The United Nations General Assembly announced the World Environment Day to mark the opening of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on Human Environment.
Environment Protection Agency Deputy Director Naseemur Rehman Shah says sustainable development is an important concern, even the preamble of the Punjab Environment Policy talks about it. Over the past few years, the department has tried to bring industry in line with the environment protection policy, he says. “However, the task is not as easy as it may seem.”
Shah says since its formation, the EPD has collected comprehensive data on 650,000 industries in the Punjab to check how many of them were following regulations laid out by the environmental policy. He says the EPA cannot shut down industrial units violating environmental regulations because they need to take the workers there into account.
“Environmental policies in all provinces have provisions for a Sustainable Environment Fund, but this has not been formed,” says Rafay Alam, an environmental lawyer. He says the Punjab Environment Protection Department (EPD) has been taking steps to formulate the fund, but has not made headway in this regard.
He stressed the importance of sustainable development.
“At present, the government prefers development, especially in lieu of the youth bulge, to create economic opportunities and jobs for them. But without sustainable development, these people would suffer a host of health issues, placing a greater burden on the government to provide health-related infrastructure.”
A focus on sustainable development in developing countries is important especially because a large number of people in these countries lack access to basic amenities such as clean drinking water, Alam says.
He rubbished the argument that since industry in Pakistan was not as advanced as in developed countries, there was no need for sustainable development. “The EPD has been working tirelessly to ensure the establishment of industrial estates which provide industrial units common water treatment plants among other waste treatment facilities which are not feasible for a single unit.”
He said the government was looking to establish an industrial unit in Sialkot where tanneries set up in residential areas would be shifted.
Shah said a lot of resources were needed to tackle environmental problems head on. “We just don’t have those resources.”
The department has planned a seminar in connection with World Environment Day on Friday (today) to create awareness about the environment. Shah says that this is part of the department’s agenda.
This year, the World Environment Day’s agenda includes: energy, food and water. The three areas were identified since there was an alarmingly high rate of unsustainable consumption in these areas, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2015.
Seven Billion Dreams, One Planet – Consume with Care, the theme for World Environment Day 2015, focuses on the idea of sustainable development which has become an important part of the global narrative on environment. The day will be observed around the world on Friday (today).
The United Nations General Assembly announced the World Environment Day to mark the opening of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on Human Environment.
Environment Protection Agency Deputy Director Naseemur Rehman Shah says sustainable development is an important concern, even the preamble of the Punjab Environment Policy talks about it. Over the past few years, the department has tried to bring industry in line with the environment protection policy, he says. “However, the task is not as easy as it may seem.”
Shah says since its formation, the EPD has collected comprehensive data on 650,000 industries in the Punjab to check how many of them were following regulations laid out by the environmental policy. He says the EPA cannot shut down industrial units violating environmental regulations because they need to take the workers there into account.
“Environmental policies in all provinces have provisions for a Sustainable Environment Fund, but this has not been formed,” says Rafay Alam, an environmental lawyer. He says the Punjab Environment Protection Department (EPD) has been taking steps to formulate the fund, but has not made headway in this regard.
He stressed the importance of sustainable development.
“At present, the government prefers development, especially in lieu of the youth bulge, to create economic opportunities and jobs for them. But without sustainable development, these people would suffer a host of health issues, placing a greater burden on the government to provide health-related infrastructure.”
A focus on sustainable development in developing countries is important especially because a large number of people in these countries lack access to basic amenities such as clean drinking water, Alam says.
He rubbished the argument that since industry in Pakistan was not as advanced as in developed countries, there was no need for sustainable development. “The EPD has been working tirelessly to ensure the establishment of industrial estates which provide industrial units common water treatment plants among other waste treatment facilities which are not feasible for a single unit.”
He said the government was looking to establish an industrial unit in Sialkot where tanneries set up in residential areas would be shifted.
Shah said a lot of resources were needed to tackle environmental problems head on. “We just don’t have those resources.”
The department has planned a seminar in connection with World Environment Day on Friday (today) to create awareness about the environment. Shah says that this is part of the department’s agenda.
This year, the World Environment Day’s agenda includes: energy, food and water. The three areas were identified since there was an alarmingly high rate of unsustainable consumption in these areas, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2015.