Pakistan has surpassed its target of converting 0.920 million vehicles into Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) with more than 2.8 million vehicles reported to be running on CNG.
Pakistan is on track to meet the target for land protection for the conservation of wildlife as a percentage of total land area. However, there is a lag in equity based indicators of forest cover, sulphur content in high speed diesel and proportion of population with access to sanitation and energy efficiency. The government has instructed oil refineries to reduce the sulphur content in high speed diesel from current level of 1% to 0.5% or less to meet Euro standard specifications. This would require significant investment by refineries and it is not clear if this target can be achieved.
Lack of awareness about environmental issues as well as gross violation of government regulations pose serious challenges in overcoming this lag. The government has undertaken projects and programs on many levels to support the environmental goals through federal/provincial resources.
These projects and programs are under implementation with focus on areas of capacity building, clean drinking water, environmental management, biodiversity, air pollution control and watershed management, urban development, restoration of lakes/ water bodies, environmental awareness, waste management, wetlands, etc. After the 18th amendment, the bulk of the responsibility of Environment’s 263 devolved sectors has been undertaken by the provinces.
However, the federal government still needs to develop new country wide programs. Environment and climate change programs have to be in line with the Vision 2025 while necessitating the sustainable growth of the country through integration of environmental considerations in development.
The major problems arising from rapid urbanisation include pollution, inadequate waste management, unprecedented traffic congestion and the almost instant destruction of fragile ecosystems.
Earlier, researches have shown the destructive effects of particulate matter on human life such as a wide range of respiratory diseases and heart ailments.