Environmental Pollution and Regulatory and Non-Regulatory Environmental Responsibility (Reviewing Pakistan Environmental Protection Act)

Abstract

Pakistan is the fifth most populous country of the world, and also the most polluted countries of the world with severe air quality, water scarcity, soaring and frequent rising temperature, devastating floods and droughts at the same time. This study evaluates the efforts done by the Government to deal with air-pollution. This study briefly reviews the environmental protection law of Pakistan and analyzes the pollution data from 1990 to 2020 to check the pollution level in Pakistan. The rapid population growth and urbanization, industrial development and unchecked and uncontrolled PM and carbon emissions are causing significant ill environmental in the country. Government of Pakistan has formulated various acts and polices to combat pollution, like National Environment Action Plan (NEAP), Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 (PEPA-97), and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), and CLEAN Central Laboratory for Environmental Analysis and Networking. Unfortunately, the role of Government and regulatory authorities is questionable as they are not prioritizing this sever issue, resultantly, environmental degradation and impacting public health.