Topic: 2025 – Impact of Climate Change on Air Quality
Country: Pakistan
Delegate Name: Lauren Barteld
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan recognizes the close link between climate change and air quality, understanding that it holds significant impacts on individuals, human health risks, implications on ecosystems, and difficulties for sustainable development. Poor air quality worsens the consequences of these impacts, as well as threatening economic health. Pakistan aims to address these implications that result from poor air quality due to climate change. Protecting public health and promoting environmental sustainability are the largest priorities for Pakistan surrounding this topic.
As a developing country in an era of rapid urbanization, Pakistan also experiences great climate-related stress and therefore faces major air quality problems. Cities experience hazardous levels of pollution, which continue to be worsened by rising temperatures and extended droughts. Pakistan emphasizes the need to approach this situation and take measures to mitigate climate change, therefore reducing air quality issues/pollution. Top priorities involve developing low-carbon emission energy systems, encouraging cleaner means of transportation, restoring and then further protecting ecosystems, and planning infrastructure for a transition to a majority renewable energy. Promoting technological equality is also an important factor so that numerous developing countries can access these air quality pollution control methods.
Pakistan encourages UNEP and involved nations to focus on how air quality monitoring can be improved globally, with a specific focus on developing countries that lack resources. What policies and programs can be created and implemented to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions from major sources in order to reduce as much damage to air quality as possible? How can we cooperate internationally to not only address fixing the problem, but also inform the public and promote community action on this climate-related air pollution?
To take action on these challenges, Pakistan proposes the collaborative development of integrated climate change and air quality programs that connect the issues to address mitigating climate change to effectively reduce air pollution. An acceleration of renewable energy technologies would also feed into these programs, attempting to reduce public reliance on fossil fuels and instead encourage sustainable transportation options for an increasingly urbanized society.
Pakistan’s current position aligns with its various national and international frameworks, including the Pakistan National Clean Air Policy (NCAP), 2021 National Climate Change Policy, and involvement in the Paris Agreement. These precedents all reinforce Pakistan’s commitment to mitigating climate change and enforcing sustainable development. Additionally, their goals are all strongly opposed to the habits of major CO2 emitting countries, such as China, the US, and India. Accountability is another priority of Pakistan as those high-emitting nations have long been contributing to environmental disasters in Pakistan itself as well as surrounding countries. Along with taking responsibility, Pakistan urges those key players in carbon emissions to have full public disclosure on emissions and impact, specifically through sharing climate reports with their citizens and informing the people of their impact on the global environment.
Pakistan recognizes the serious risks in air quality that climate change feeds into. By promoting integrated strategies to address climate change, as well as technological equity, Pakistan believes that fellow UN nations can work together to lessen the impacts of climate change and air pollution for the greater good of the public. Pakistan is prepared to collaborate with other UNEP involved nations to strategize policies and programs in order to create solutions for this issue.
Works Cited:
UN Environment Programme – Air Quality Policies in Pakistan, 2016 (www.unep.org)
Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination – National Clean Air Policy (NCAP), 2023 (mocc.gov.pk)
Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency – Pakistan Clean Air Programme (PCAP), 2001
United Nations – Paris Agreement, 2015 (un.org)
