ADB launches independent review of Pakistan’s National Clean Air Policy

The Asian Development Bank has commissioned an independent review of Pakistan's National Clean Air Policy with the Climate Change Ministry, Profit by Pakistan Today reported. The study will assess the policy's governance and its sector-specific measures, aiming for a framework that can be tracked and enforced. Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik made the announcement at an event on the NCAP Implementation Plan, organised with the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency and the ADB.

Malik said Pakistan must go beyond policy pledges and produce a time-bound, actionable plan for the NCAP. He described air pollution as a serious environmental and health challenge, citing a World Health Organisation estimate that 99% of the global population lives where pollution exceeds recommended limits. He also cited recurring winter smog in Punjab and the first national emission inventory, from 2022, as a key evidence base.

Pak-EPA Director General Syed Abrar Hussain said the country has moved from general environmental rules to a dedicated clean-air framework, the NCAP having been approved unanimously by the federal cabinet in March 2023. He stressed that federal and provincial governments need closer coordination, since the provinces now hold most powers over monitoring, control and mitigation following the 18th Constitutional Amendment. The government is also weighing a National Clean Air Secretariat within the Climate Change Ministry, aimed at better coordination.