Environmental policy in Pakistan

Environmental policy in Pakistan.

Introduction: The National Environment Policy provides an overarching framework for addressing the environmental issues facing- Pakistan, particularly contamination of clean water bodies and coastal waters, air contamination, lack of proper waste management, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, desertification, natural catastrophes and climate alterations. It also gives instructions for addressing the cross sectoral issues as well as the underlying cause of environmental degradation and meeting international obligations. Pakistan is confronted with serious challenges of Environmental pollution, land degradation, water, and air pollution. Freshwater/Industrial pollution is mostly unchecked and may become worse unless economic activity is supported with sustainable growth. Attempts are underway to make goals of sustainable social and economic development, securing water, food, energy and the environment, securities, without over-exploiting forests and ecosystems. The growth and sustainability of environment in Pakistan will depend on prudent use of natural resources and careful considerations for the environment. The natural resource base of the Country is under great strain, which will become even greater as the population continues to increase. It is argued that the Sectorial policies, especially policies related to natural resources are outdated and lag behind the socioeconomic changes that have altered the pattern of resource use. Resource degradation in Pakistan has arisen from distorted policies that have contributed to a departure in private and societal costs. In special, several modern inputs were subsidized for much of the period, 1966-96. Public sector research has undoubtedly been biased towards the evolution of technologies based on packages of modern inputs, and has ignored research on public goods such as integrated crop management and crops that enhance diversification and sustainability of production systems. From a policy perspective, there is a need for public and private initiative on various fronts-increased investment in resource management, research and extension, research to develop diversified and more sustainable.

Historical Perspective and Education:
The Ministry of Environment was established in Pakistan in 1975 as a follow-up to the Stockholm Declaration of 1972. Under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, both the federal and provincial legislatures had the power to make laws on the environment until 2010. The ministry proposed and drafted the first consolidated environmental law, the Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1983(PEPO). As federal legislation, the main objective of PEPO was to establish institutions, i.e., the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council (PEPC), headed by the President of Pakistan, as the supreme environmental policy-making body in the country; the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the federal level; and four environmental protection agencies at the provincial level to administer and implement the provisions of
PEPO. PEPO only provided an institutional structure for enforcement and the protection of the environment, without comprehensive provisions for regulation of land use; air, water, or noise pollution; marine pollution; biodiversity; or hazardous substances or activities. In 1992, Pakistan participated in the Earth Summit and became a party to various international conventions. This accelerated the process of environmental lawmaking in the country. In the same year, Pakistan prepared the National Conservation Strategy (NCS). The NCS provided a broad framework for addressing environmental concerns in the country. In 1993, the first National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) were notified under PEPO, providing standards for industrial and municipal effluent and air emissions, including 32 liquid and 16 gaseous parameters. The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 (PEPA) replaced the earlier legislation, PEPO. Environmental Conservation, alleviation of poverty and sustainable development has been high on the agenda of various global meetings (UN Conference Stockholm, 1972; the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 1992; New York, 1997 and Johannesburg, 2002). The start of environmental education made historical mark with the start of the International Conference on Human Environment at Stockholm in 1972, on global levels and in Pakistan. Subsequently, the need for environmental education was, for the first time, emphasized in 1979 in Belgrade. The Tbilisi conference in the USSR in 1977 was the first major conference on the theme of Environmental Education where the following objectives were proposed.
To create environmental awareness.
To disseminate knowledge and skills.
To initiate new behavioral approach, at individual/or groups levels, towards environment.
To develop inter-disciplinary view of environment as a dynamic system and to emphasis its complexity.
To help in promotion of environmentally sound development-program towards sustainable growth.
To create an atmosphere of national, international understanding and global cooperation in areas of environmental priority.

Environmental Policy: The Government of Pakistan believes in the world of opportunities for the present generation without compromising on the potential of future generations to come across their developmental needs. Environmental degradation is fundamentally related to poverty in Pakistan. Roughly less than one-fourth of the country's population, similar in most developing countries, is poor and directly hooked on natural resources for their livelihood whether agriculture, hunting, forestry, fisheries, etc. Poverty combined with a rapidly increasing population and growing urbanization, is leading to intense pressures on the surroundings. The environment-poverty nexus cannot be ignored if effective and pragmatic answers to remedy environmental hazards are to be considered. In Pakistan, as elsewhere, environment degradation is both a movement and a result of poverty. A delicate and damaged resource base is a major cause of poverty as agriculture yields are lower on degraded land, forests are depleted and access to vital livelihood resources declines. The declension of the environment continues to affect the livelihood and health, thus increasing the exposure of poor to disaster and environmental-related disputes. Environmental degradation, air and water contamination, ozone layer depletion, deforestation, desertification, vanishing biodiversity and land degradation have resulted in climate change and ecological imbalance. Experts estimate that environmental degradation may cost Pakistan's economy over Rs.365 billion every year, of which inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene accounts for Rs.112 billion, agricultural soil degradation Rs.70 billion, indoor pollution Rs.67 billion, urban air pollution Rs.65 billion, lead exposure Rs.45 billion and land degradation and deforestation Rs.6 billion. Some other environmental experts believe that the environmental degradation cost must have increased Beyond Rs.450 billion.

Challenges to environment in Pakistan: Water and air pollution causing widespread diseases, Adaptation to the impact of climate change for energy, water and food securities, Preparedness for adaptation/mitigation due to climate change and to avail opportunities under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Preparedness for an effective disaster management so as to avoid damage to the environment, Watershed degradation and deforestation, Management of solid, liquid, hazardous waste, Green economy-improved human well-being and social equity while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities initiatives and its impact on Pakistan. Linking natural resource based livelihoods to production of ecosystem services, the green economy can help reduce poverty and enhance environmental sustainability, Implementation of planned initiative with efficacy to increase forest cover and biodiversity, Reducing land degradation, Effluent treatment at source to avoid discharge of polluted industrial and domestic sewage to fresh water bodies and marine environment, Increasing energy efficiency with focus on conservations measures, Rapid urbanization and industrialization leading to serious environmental concerns: natural resources depletion resulting from accelerated economic and social transformation.

Causes of Environmental Damages: The most important cases of environmental damage burden identified are (i) Illness and premature mortality caused by air pollution amounting to about 50% of the total damage, cost; (ii) Diarrheal diseases and typhoid, due to inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene contribute about 30%of the total damage cost; and (iii) Reduced agricultural productivity, due to soil degradation, contributes about 20% of the entire amount. Rapid degradation of environment in Pakistan and the enduring poverty can be ascribed to a number of key elements, including the gross lack of environmental consciousness and training.

Strategies to Achieve Environment protection: Achieving targets, particularly those relating to environmental sustainability under Goal 7, Implementation of the Action Plan of National Climate Change Policy and adequate sharing of responsibilities at all levels, In the wake of 18th Amendment, review and Amendments in environmental regulation in consultation with federal and provincial Environmental Protection Agencies, civil society and private sector in order to better implement the policies, Involvement of private sector and NGOs under public-private partnership for effective and efficient conservation and management of natural resources, Establishing National Multilateral Environmental (MEAS) Secretariat (Islamabad), Establishment of Clean Development Mechanism Cell (Islamabad), Establishment of National Bio-safety Centre (NBC) Project (Islamabad), Sustainable Land Management Project, Phase-1 (Islamabad), Development and Implementation of Water and Sanitation Management Information System in Pakistan (Islamabad), Establishment of Centre for Sustainable Organization (Islamabad), Establishment of Geometric Centre for Climate change and Sustainable Development 2012-2015 (Islamabad) and Indoor Air Quality in Buildings (Islamabad).

Environmental management plan: A site-specific environmental management program (EMP) will be developed and implemented for each installation to be repaired or rehabilitated. Monitoring. The facility level monitoring will be taken away at the base of the WMP and EMP (Environmental and Medical Waste Management Plan) of each facility. Monitoring checklists will be developed on the base of these Plans, to be filled periodically. The district level monitoring will be taken out with the help of Monitoring and Evaluation Assistants (MEAs) who already conduct monitoring of the DoH`s (Department of Health) health maintenance facilities in their several territories. In summation of the above, the Executive District Officer (Health) and his/her staff will also conduct random monitoring of the EMWMP (Environmental and Medical Waste Management Plan) in healthcare facilities. The MWMFP (Medical Waste Management Focal Point) will also take out random visits of the healthcare facilities in the Province to monitor the Plan implementation.

Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997: The Punjab Environmental Protection Act, 1997 (the Act) is the basic legislative tool empowering the government to frame regulations for the protection of the environment (the 'environment' has been defined in the Act as: (a) air, water and land; (b) all layers of the atmosphere; (c) all organic and inorganic matter and living organisms; (d) the ecosystem and ecological relationships; (e) buildings, structures, roads, facilities and works; (f) all social and economic conditions affecting community life; and (g) the interrelationships between any of the factors specified in sub-clauses 'a' to 'f'). The Act is applicable to a wide scope of subjects and extends to socioeconomic aspects, land acquisition, air, water, land, marine and noise pollution, as easily as the treatment of hazardous waste. The release or emission of any effluent, waste, air pollutant or noise in an amount, concentration or level in excess of the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) specified by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) has been forbidden under the Act, and penalties have been ordered for those infringing the provisions of the Act. The abilities of the federal and provincial Environmental Protection Agencies (EPAs), built under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance 1983,5 have also been considerably enhanced under this legislation and they have been granted the power to direct inquiries into potential breaches of environmental law either of their own accord, or upon the registration of a charge. The demand for environmental assessment is set away in Section 12 (1) of the Act. Below this subdivision, no project involving construction activities or any alteration in the physical environment can be undertaken unless an initial environmental examination (IEE) or an environmental impact assessment (EIA) is taken, and approval is received from the federal or relevant provincial EPA. Section 12 (6) of the Act says that the supply is applicable solely to such categories of projects as may be ordered. The necessity of carrying on an environmental appraisal of the proposed project emanates from this Act. The present Plan broadly addresses the requirements presented in the Act.

Regulatory bodies & Policies of Environment in Pakistan

Ministry of Environment.
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency.
National Environmental Quality Standards Cell.
Ministry of Climate Change (MOCC).
Hospital Waste Management Committee.
Punjab Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) agency.
Department of Forestry
Pakistan Clean Air Program Policy.
National Drinking Water Policy.
National Environmental Policy.
National Resettlement Policy.
National Sanitation Policy.
National Conservation Strategy
National Environmental Policy
National Sanitation Policy
National Water Policy
National Drinking Water Policy
National Forest Policy
National Rangeland Policy
National Operational Strategy for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

Current Situation
Agreeing to a World Bank report, Pakistan faces an environmental cost of Rs. 1 billion a day. Despite of all governmental paperwork we as a citizen rely on reality, as reality is always bitter. Let's throw a look at the World Bank report and current statistics of environment of Pakistan. Agreeing to a recent study, average air pollution in big cities is approximately 4 times higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) limits. Water contamination is the contamination of water bodies like lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater. Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged at once or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to get rid of harmful compounds. Water contamination is one of the major menaces to public health in Pakistan. Drinking water quality is badly supervised and supervised. Pakistan ranks at number 80 among 122 nations regarding drinking water quality. Drinking water sources, both surface and groundwater are contaminated with Coliforms, toxic metals and pesticides throughout the nation. Various drinking water quality parameters set by WHO are frequently broken. Access to clear drinking water is limited in developing countries and people may, consequently, consume contaminated water. In Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJ&K), more than 80% of all illnesses have been ascribed to the use of poor quality water. It is calculated that water related diseases because an annual national income loss of Rs. 25–58 billion and over 250,000 kids die in Pakistan every year due to diarrheal diseases alone and 20–40% of the hospital beds in Pakistan are occupied by patients suffering from urine-related diseases, which are responsible for one-third of all destructions. Just 25.61% (rural 23.5% and 30% urban) of the population in Pakistan have access to safe and potable water. A recent survey reveals that estimated costs were $1867 million for water, sanitation and hygiene, $1,167 million in terms of land erosion and salinization and $2200 million in terms of air pollution. He stated that the actual monetary value of indemnity to the surroundings and natural resources was even higher. Pakistan`s last three years budget is not even in billion. That is a very difficult and tricky task for the government of Pakistan to tackle.

Conclusion
There has been a dramatic increase in disasters and the damages caused by them in the recent past. O'er the past decade, the number of natural and man-made disasters has climbed unstoppable. From 1994 to 1998, reported disasters average was 428 per year, but from 1999 to 2003, this figure went up to an average of 707 disaster events per year indicating an increase of nearly 60 per cent over the premature years. The largest advance was in countries of low human development, which suffered an increase of 142 percentage. Within disaster management bodies in Pakistan, there is a lack of knowledge and information about hazard identification, risk appraisal and management, and linkages between livelihoods and misadventure alertness. Policy responses are not generally influenced by methods and tools for cost-effective and sustainable interventions. There are no long-term, inclusive and coherent institutional arrangements to address issues with a long-term vision.
EPD (Environment protection department) steps are viewed in isolation from the processes of mainstream development and poverty alleviation planning. For example, disaster management, growth planning and environmental management institutions operate in isolation and integrated planning between these sectors is most missing. Absence of a central federal agency for integrated management and lack of coordination within and between related organizations is responsible for efficient and efficient management in the state. State-level disaster preparedness and mitigation standards are heavily tilted towards structural aspects and undermine non-structural factors such as the knowledge and capacities of local people, and the related livelihood protection issues.