Daily Times

Vice President Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian (PPPP) Senator Sherry Rehman on Thursday said the National Clean Air Policy (NCAP) approved recently if implemented effectively and timely, has the potential to reduce the adverse effects of air pollution on public health and the environment.

The PPPP leader who was the former federal minister for climate change and environmental coordination got the first-ever policy document to curb air pollution in the previous coalition government.

In her statement regarding the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) Report, Senator Rehman said the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index Report has highlighted the critical problem of air pollution across the world, including in Pakistan.

The report revealed alarming findings about the impact of pollution on people’s health and lives, whereas ambient air pollution was identified as a major threat to public health in Pakistan, she added.

Sherry Rehman further said that according to the index, the average life expectancy of citizens living in Pakistan had decreased by four years due to air pollution.

“To tackle the serious pollution crisis in Pakistan, we (the coalition government) introduced Pakistan’s first National Clean Air Policy 2023 (NCAP) in March this year,” Sherry Rehman said. The policy was a comprehensive and strategic framework aimed at improving air quality across the country, she added.