Pakistan’s Toxic Smog Emergency
Recent Developments
01Punjab authorities declared a health emergency over toxic smog, closed schools for 10 more days, and imposed a lockdown in Lahore and Multan during a recent smog surge.
02Al Jazeera reported in November 2024 that Lahore reached an AQI above 1,400, with some areas reportedly hitting 1,900 earlier in the month, while provincial officials expanded mobile clinics and hospital capacity.
03A January 2026 report said experts estimate air-pollution losses at about $22 billion annually, with some broader assessments placing the cost as high as $47 billion.
Interventions
- Punjab provincial emergency measures including school closures, city lockdowns, suspension of outdoor activity, and expansion of hospital capacity and mobile clinics.
- Restrictions on brick kilns and other noncompliant sources, plus vehicle-emissions enforcement recommended by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative as part of smog response measures.
What Works
- Targeted shutdowns of high-emitting sources such as brick kilns and noncompliant industries are among the measures recommended by Pakistani air-quality experts to reduce peak smog exposure.
- Vehicle-emissions enforcement is repeatedly identified as a key intervention because transport emissions are described as a major driver of the crisis and its economic losses.
How to Help
- Support organizations working on clean air, public health, and emergency response in Pakistan, including groups cited in reporting such as the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative and health-focused NGOs.
- Advocate for stronger emissions enforcement, clean-fuel transition, and protection for schools and hospitals in high-smog districts.
- Share verified alerts and public-health guidance during smog episodes to help reduce exposure for children, older adults, and people with respiratory disease.
Make an Impact
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Verified Organizations
Organizations Helping(5)
Pak-EPA addresses winter smog through enforcement and monitoring. Its actions include inspecting diesel vehicles and industrial units, issuing challans, impounding non-compliant vehicles, demolishing non-compliant brick kilns, and establishing emission-testing stations. It is also expanding the air-quality monitoring network, coordinating with provincial agencies on cross-border smog sources, and planning longer-term measures such as electric vehicle policy implementation, an old-vehicle retirement mechanism, and wider availability of cleaner fuels.
PAQI fights smog by building and operating a nationwide low-cost monitoring network and using the data to support public awareness and policy change. The group installed its first monitor in 2016 and now has about 150 monitors across the country, and its data has been used as evidence in court to argue that smog is a public-health threat. It also helps create the data foundation needed for emissions inventories, source apportionment, and forecasting so authorities can target pollution sources more effectively.
Scary Moms works by mobilizing parents, especially mothers, to change school transportation habits and reduce emissions tied to daily commutes. The group raises awareness about protecting children from smog and persuades parents to stop driving children to school and instead use school buses, helping reduce congestion and local vehicle emissions while building public pressure for cleaner-air policies.
The Coalition supports Pakistan’s air-pollution response by helping strengthen policies and actions that reduce methane, black carbon, and other short-lived climate pollutants that contribute to smog. In Pakistan, its work is tied to national and provincial clean-air efforts, with an emphasis on emissions reduction strategies, policy coordination, and practical measures that cut pollution from transport, industry, waste burning, and other major sources.
