ISLAMABAD/GILGIT: Pakistan’s outdated environmental regulations came under scrutiny on Wednesday as a parliamentary committee revealed that the country still operates under Euro-II vehicle emission standards — a benchmark abandoned by most nations nearly two decades ago.
The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination expressed alarm over the revelation, directing the Ministry of Climate Change to devise a mechanism for nationwide air-quality monitoring and to present a time-bound action plan within four weeks.
Officials from the ministry and the Islamabad Capital Territory administration briefed the committee, acknowledging that the National Environmental Quality Standards (NEQS) are still based on Euro-II parameters, despite global transitions to Euro-V and Euro-VI benchmarks.
Committee chairperson MNA Munaza Hassan described the absence of an enforcement mechanism as “a fundamental failure of oversight.” Islamabad’s Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon informed the panel that the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) lacks both financial and technical resources to fulfil its mandate, having to borrow testing units from Punjab’s EPA while the Capital Development Authority funded five additional devices.
Experts told the committee that targeted interventions — such as staggered school and office hours, catalytic converters for old vehicles, and better road infrastructure — could reduce air pollution by up to 30 percent. They also urged a shift to Euro-V-compliant fuels, mandatory emission testing during vehicle transfers, and incentives for retrofitting. “We should at least make Islamabad a model city,” Ms Hassan remarked.
Meanwhile, the Senate Standing Committee on Kashmir Affairs, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and SAFRON, meeting in Skardu, urged the federal government to intensify climate resilience efforts in GB, one of Pakistan’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
Senator Asad Qasim, who chaired the meeting, said GB faced severe climate-induced disasters this year, including glacier melt, cloudbursts and glacial-lake outburst floods. Officials briefed the committee on forest protection, clean energy projects, and the seizure of 1.1 million cubic feet of illegal timber.
“We will work to prevent future catastrophes and support local communities,” Senator Qasim said, stressing the need for awareness and early warning systems across the region.
