Unveiling Pakistan's Air Pollution: A National Landscape Report on Health Risks, Sources and Solutions

Unveiling Pakistan’s Air Pollution: A National Landscape Report on Health Risks, Sources, and Solutions presents Pakistan’s first harmonised, multi-sector emissions inventory and multi-city air quality assessment. Developed by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI), the report covers the four major urban airsheds of Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad–Rawalpindi, and Peshawar. Methodologically, the analysis applies Tier 1 and Tier 2 IPCC/EMEP-aligned approaches, integrating ground-based measurements from Pakistan’s largest open-data monitoring network, satellite aerosol products, and local activity datasets, including fuel consumption, vehicle fleet composition, and industrial registries, to quantify sectoral contributions to ambient PM2.5, CO, NOx and SO2.

The analysis reveals that air pollution remains Pakistan’s most severe environmental and public-health challenge, reducing national life expectancy by an estimated 3.9 years. Nationally, it contributes to approximately 128,000 premature deaths annually and imposes an economic cost equivalent to 6.5% of GDP. Lahore bears the heaviest burden, with residents losing up to seven years of life due to annual mean PM2.5 concentrations exceeding 110 μg/m³, more than 22 times the WHO guideline.

The inventory identifies distinct source profiles for each airshed. In Lahore, primary PM2.5 emissions are dominated by transport (35%), industry (28%), and brick kilns (17%), effects which are amplified by wintertime temperature inversions. Karachi exhibits an industrial signature (49% of emissions), reflecting dense unregulated clusters, heavy fuel oil usage, and port activity. Islamabad–Rawalpindi is characterised by transport-driven emissions (53%) linked to rapid motorisation; while Peshawar exhibits the highest per-capita exposure, driven by transit-trade traffic (51%), brick kilns (19%), and valley-constrained dispersion.

The report outlines a quantitative pathway for up to 50% emissions reduction through targeted interventions. Key recommendations include the electrification of two- and three-wheelers, industrial retrofit requirements, continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS), brick kiln modernisation, and the establishment of airshed-based governance structures. This analytical framework establishes a scientific foundation for future research, policy design, and international collaboration on air quality management in Pakistan.