LAHORE: On the streets of Pakistan’s second biggest city, smog stings eyes and burns throats. Inside homes, few people can afford air purifiers to limit the damage of toxic particles that seep through doors and windows.
Lahore — a city of 14 million people stuffed with factories on the border with India — regularly ranks among the world’s most polluted cities, but it has hit record levels this month.
Schools have closed in the main cities of Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital, until November 17 in a bid to lower children’s exposure to the pollution, especially during the morning commute when it is often at its highest.
“The children are constantly coughing, they have constant allergies. In schools we saw that most of the children were falling sick,” said Rafia Iqbal a 38-year-old primary school teacher in the city that borders India.
Her husband Muhammad Safdar, a 41-year-old advertising professional, said the level of pollution “is making daily living impossible.”
“We cannot move around, we cannot go outside, we can do nothing at all,” he told AFP.
According to the international Air Quality Index Scale, an index value of 300 or higher results is “hazardous” to health and Pakistan has regularly tipped over 1,000 on the scale.
In Multan, another city of several million people some 350 kilometers away, the AQI level passed 2,000 last week — a staggering height never seen before by incredulous residents.
Access to parks, zoos, playgrounds, historic monuments, museums and recreational areas will be banned until November 17 and tuk-tuks with polluting two-stroke engines, along with restaurants that operate barbecues without filters have been banned in Lahore “hot-spots.”
Air purifiers are luxury for most families, with the cheapest priced at around $90, with the added cost of replacing filters every few months in such extreme pollution.
Safdar and Iqbal do not have air purifiers and instead try to contain their children to one room.
“Preventive measures should have been taken. It’s a yearly occurrence,” Safdar said of the government.
“Obviously there is something missing in their solution.”
A mix of low-grade fuel emissions from factories and vehicles, exacerbated by agricultural stubble burning, blanket the city each winter, trapped by cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds.
The WHO says that air pollution can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other respiratory diseases.
It is particularly punishing for children and babies, and the elderly.
Last year, the Punjab government tested artificial rain to try to overcome the smog, and this year, trucks with water cannons sprayed the streets — with no results.
Special smog counters to triage patients have been established at clinics across the province, with 900 people admitted to hospital in Lahore alone on Tuesday.
Doctor Qurat ul Ain, a hospital doctor for 15 years, witnesses the damage from an emergency rooms in Lahore.
“This year smog is much more than previous years and the number of patients suffering from its effects is greater too,” she told AFP.
Many arrive with labored breathing or coughing fits and reddened eyes, often the elderly, children and young men who have breathed in the toxic air while on the back of motorbikes.
“We tell people not to go out and otherwise to wear a mask. We tell them not to touch their eyes with their hands, especially children,” she adds.
For days the concentration of polluting micro-particles PM2.5 in Punjab has been dozens of times higher than that deemed tolerable by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Doctor Alia Haider, also a climate activist, is calling for awareness campaigns for patients who often do not know the dangers of smog.
Children from poor neighborhoods, she said, are the first victims because they live all year round with pollutants of different types.
“We are stuck in our own poison,” she said. It’s like a cloud of gas over the city.”
Pakistan’s record smog triggers anguish and anxiety
https://arab.news/ggjtc
Pakistan’s record smog triggers anguish and anxiety
- Lahore, a city of 14 million people on the border with India, regularly ranks among world’s most polluted cities
- Schools in main cities of Punjab province, of which Lahore is capital, have closed until Nov. 17 due to the smog
Pakistan, fighting for climate funds, urges COP29 to become ‘Finance COP’
- Nearly 200 nations are meeting in Baku to discuss climate compensation for developing countries
- Pakistani prime minister urges fulfillment of financial pledges made during COP27 and COP28
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed hope the UN’s ongoing COP29 climate summit would transform into a “Finance COP” by restoring confidence in the pledging process and increasing climate finance for vulnerable, developing countries.
The main task for nearly 200 countries at the COP29 summit from Nov. 11-22 is to broker a deal that ensures up to trillions of dollars in financing for climate projects worldwide.
Pakistan is ranked the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. In 2022, devastating floods killed over 1,700 people and affected over 33 million, with economic losses exceeding $30 billion. International donors pledged over $9 billion last January to aid Pakistan’s flood recovery but officials say little of the promised funds have been received so far.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit on Tuesday, Sharif said developing countries would need an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current nationally determined contributions (NDCs), or national action plans for reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts defined by the Paris Agreement.
Most of the world’s climate-friendly spending so far has been skewed toward major economies such as China and the United States. Africa’s 54 countries received just 2 percent of global renewable energy investments over the last two decades.
“We believe that under Azerbaijan’s able leadership, COP29 can transform into a Finance COP by restoring confidence in the pledging process and scaling up climate finance,” Sharif said in his address to the World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit on Wednesday.
“I strongly feel that climate finance must be grant-based and not add to the debt burden of vulnerable developing countries.”
He said COP29 should make it clear that financial pledges committed during COP27 and COP28 must be fulfilled, as many had yet to materialize.
As minimal emitters, countries like Pakistan should not have to bear the brunt of emissions caused by others, Sharif added, especially without the necessary tools to finance climate resilience.
“Without climate justice, there can be no real resilience and I don’t want other countries to face the plight Pakistan faced back in 2022,” he added, referring to floods.
Wealthy countries pledged in 2009 to contribute $100 billion a year to help developing nations cope with the costs of a transition to clean energy and adapting to the conditions of a warming world.
Those payments began in 2020 but were only fully met in 2022. The $100 billion pledge expires this year.
Countries are negotiating a higher target for payments starting next year, but some have been reluctant to confirm its size until it is clear which countries will contribute. Instead, they are circling around the idea of a multi-layered target, with a core amount from wealthy countries’ government coffers, and a larger sum that includes financing from other sources such as multilateral lending institutions or private investors.
In the past, public money made up the bulk of contributions to the $100 billion goal.
Donald Trump’s victory in the US election has overshadowed the COP29 talks, because of expectations he will halt US climate finance contributions.
That would leave a hole in any new global target that other donors would struggle to fill. Some climate negotiators also expect the overall target agreed at COP29 to be smaller, given the expected lack of contributions from the world’s biggest economy.
The US provided nearly $10 billion in international climate finance last year, less than the European Union’s $31 billion contribution.
So far, only a few dozen rich countries have been obliged to pay UN climate finance and they want fast-developing nations, such as China and Gulf oil nations to start paying as well.
Beijing opposes this, saying that as a developing country it does not have the same responsibility as long-industrialized nations like Britain and the United States.
While China is already investing hundreds of billions of dollars in electric vehicles and renewable energy abroad, it does so on its own terms.
Any COP29 deal would need consensus approval.
With inputs from Reuters
COP29: Pakistani PM to pitch new fund in address at Climate Action Summit today
- Nearly 200 nations have gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, for COP29 climate talks this week
- Main focus of talks is wealthier nations compensating poor countries for climate change damages
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will address the World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit at the COP29 conference in Baku today, Wednesday, where he is expected to discuss the risks posed to Pakistan by climate change and pitch a new fund to help developing countries pay for damages.
Nearly 200 nations have gathered in Baku, Azerbaijan, for UN climate talks this week. The main focus of the talks is climate finance, which involves wealthier nations compensating poor countries for damages from climate change’s weather extremes, helping them pay to transition their economies away from fossil fuels and helping them with adaptation.
Speaking on the sidelines of the World Leaders’ Climate Action Summit on Tuesday, Sharif said developing countries would need an estimated $6.8 trillion by 2030 to implement less than half of their current nationally determined contributions (NDCs), or national action plans for reducing emissions and adapting to climate impacts defined by the Paris Agreement.
“In his speech [Wednesday], the Prime Minister will shed light on the threats posed to Pakistan by climate change and highlight the country’s efforts to tackle environmental risks.,” Radio Pakistan reported.
“He will also speak about the responsibilities of developed countries and the establishment of a new fund in this regard.”
Sharif will also hold a meeting with the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, today and discuss bilateral cooperation, particularly in energy and regional connectivity.
Pakistan announces $50 million assistance for climate startups
- Project seeks to attract private investment in climate-tech ventures
- Initiative is backed by $25 million commitment from Green Climate Fund
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has launched Climaventures, an initiative led by the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) under which it will provide $50 million in assistance to climate-tech startups, Radio Pakistan reported on Wednesday.
Pakistan is ranked the 5th most vulnerable country to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index. In 2022, devastating floods killed over 1,700 people and affected over 33 million, with economic losses exceeding $30 billion.
“Under this project, an investment of fifty million dollars will be made … aimed at providing technical guidance, grants and equity to climate startups," said Radio Pakistan, reporting on the Climaventures initiative.
“This project will increase private sector investment to deal with climate related challenges in Pakistan.”
In a video posted on X last week by NRSP, Georges Sander, a climate investment specialist, said Climaventures was exciting as it supported “local entrepreneurs […] develop local solutions for local climate problems”.
The $50 million project is designed to attract private investment in climate ventures, NRSP said.
With a core $25m funding commitment from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Climaventures says it aims to address Pakistan’s funding gaps for sustainable solutions by offering technical guidance, grants and equity for climate-focused startups.
It is the first initiative of its kind in Pakistan and brings together key stakeholders, including government officials, international organizations like the World Bank and ADB, and climate entrepreneurs.
At UN climate talks, nations like Pakistan get chance to bear witness to climate change
- World’s biggest polluters and strongest economies, China and US, didn’t send their No. 1s, nor did India and Indonesia
- Main focus of this year’s talks is climate finance or wealthier nations compensating poor countries for damages from climate change effects
BAKU, Azerbaijan: When more than two dozen world leaders deliver remarks at the United Nations’ annual climate conference on Wednesday, many are likely to detail their nations’ firsthand experience with the catastrophic weather that has come with climate change.
That could include Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose nation has seen deadly flooding this year from monsoon rains that scientists say have become heavier with climate change. Just two years ago, more than 1,700 people died in widespread flooding. Pakistan has also suffered from dangerous heat, with thousands of people hospitalized with heatstroke this spring as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit).
Also on the list of speakers Wednesday is Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis. Like many other countries in the Global South, the Bahamas has piled up debt from warming-connected weather disasters it did little to cause, including Hurricanes Dorian in 2019 and Matthew in 2016. Leaders have been seeking help and money from the Global North and oil companies.
Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is also on the list. Along with the rest of southern Europe, his nation this summer was hammered by successive heat waves after three years of below-average rainfall. In Greece, the misery included water shortages, dried-up lakes and the death of wild horses.
Leaders from Italy, Tuvalu, Russia, Morocco, Congo, and the secretary of state of the Holy See — the government of the Catholic Church — are among others scheduled to speak.
Plenty of big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent from COP29 this year. That includes the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries — a group responsible for more than than 70 percent of the heat-trapping gases emitted last year — were missing. The world’s biggest polluters and strongest economies — China and the United States — didn’t send their No. 1s. Neither did India and Indonesia.
But UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was there, and he announced an 81 percent emissions reduction target on 1990 levels by 2035, in line with the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That’s up from the 78 percent the UK had already pledged.
The main focus of this year’s talks is climate finance — wealthier nations compensating poor countries for damages from climate change’s weather extremes, helping them pay to transition their economies away from fossil fuels and helping them with adaptation.
Wednesday’s agenda also includes an update on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, an idea modeled on predecessor treaty movements that sought to build international support for controls on nuclear weapons, plastic pollution and chemical weapons. Supporters say the treaty could help stop the expansion of climate-causing fossil fuel production, create a plan to fairly phase out oil, gas and coal and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
The idea has been endorsed by countries and groups including Fiji, Colombia, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, Indigenous nations in Peru, the World Health Organization and the European Parliament.
Religious affairs ministry signs Hajj flights agreement with PIA
- 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims to perform Hajj under government and private schemes next year
- Religious affairs minister has announced instalment plan for pilgrims to pay Hajj fees this year
ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Pakistan’s national carrier PIA have signed an agreement on Hajj flights, a spokesperson for the ministry said on Wednesday.
The Pakistani government approved the new Hajj policy earlier this month under which 179,210 Pakistanis would perform the pilgrimage next year under the government and private schemes.
“The national airline will provide travel facilities to 35,000 official pilgrims,” the spokesperson for the religious affairs ministry said in a statement.
“Agreements with Saudi Airlines and other local airlines will also be finalized soon,” the statement added, as PIA CEO Air Vice Marshal Aamir Hayat reiterated his commitment to provide the best facilities to Hajj pilgrims.
On Monday, Religious Affairs Minister Chaudhry Salik Hussain announced an instalment plan for pilgrims to pay Hajj fees.
The cost of next year’s Hajj under the government scheme is expected to range between Rs1,075,000 to Rs1,175,000, while an additional cost for the sacrifice of animals during the pilgrimage will be Rs55,000, according to the religious affairs minister.
The first installment of Hajj dues, amounting to Rs200,000, have to be deposited at the time of the application, while the second installment of Rs400,000 will be paid within ten days of the balloting and if your name is picked in the lucky draw.
The remaining amount can be paid by Feb. 10 next year.
