Faiza Tehseen

Pakistan needs a comprehensive industrial emissions dashboard to minimize the air pollution levels and enhance environmental governance, opined advisor to Pakistan-Germany Climate and Energy Partnership Sobia Becker while talking to WealthPK.

She said, “Development of a centralized industrial dashboard is important for a multitude of reasons including real time data collection from government and private monitoring stations, emissions’ visualization by sector, region, and pollutant type, integration with the existing platforms, and public access to foster transparency and accountability.” Real time monitoring is important for checking consistency and reliability.

When pollution from some industrial zones exceeds safe limits, it poses severe health risks to the residents in vicinities. Lack of real time and accurate data on industrial emissions is hindering effective policy making and public awareness. So, establishment of a national industry emissions dashboard is necessary and without it, the emission control programs will remain stalled.

emissions dashboard is necessary and without it, the emission control programs will remain stalled. Dr. Riffat Tahira, Principal Scientist at the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC), talked with WealthPK about different types of environmental pollution and its impacts on humans and other life forms. She said, “Harmful pollutants in the air are extremely destructive not only for humans but other life forms as well. Some of the harmful pollutants include PM2.5 (refers to fine particulate matter and cause significant health risks, being 2.5 micrometres or less in size is small enough to inhale).”

She said PM10 (particles having a diameter of 10 micrometres or less), if inhaled, causes serious impacts to heart and lungs; SO₂ (Sulphur dioxide, a reactive air pollutant emitted from fossil fuel combustion) is potentially harmful for human, animal, and plant health; and NO₂ (nitrogen dioxide, a primary air pollutant emitted through combustion processes in power plants, industry, and vehicles) is a great contributor to acid rain.

“It is necessary to set the threat measures and an emissions’ dashboard to monitor the pollution levels, particularly in the air. It is crucial for the safety of different life forms and to keep the ecosystems in order,” added Dr. Riffat. Talking to WealthPK, environmentalist Dr. Muhammad Akbar said, “For an improved air quality and to combat a multitude of environmental impacts, establishing an industrial dashboard will be a positive step.

It will empower both authorities and citizens to take well-informed actions against the industrial pollution.” He said an in-kind dashboard will enable policymakers to identify pollution hotspots, assess the effectiveness of mitigation measures, and engage the public in environmental protection efforts. To implement an industrial emissions dashboard, several challenges are there to address including limited infrastructure, data inconsistency, and regulatory gaps.

He said, “To overcome the said challenges, a seamless data transmission network is necessary to expand the network of certified air quality monitors. Standardization of data reporting should be framed to ensure consistency across different sources. Environmental regulations can be strengthened by enforcing emission standards and incentivizing cleaner technologies.”

Credit: INP-WealthPk