Over 11 million children under 5 in peril as they breathe toxic air in Pakistan’s Punjab, UNICEF warnsPakistan’s cuisine

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, has warned that highly polluted air in Pakistan’s Punjab province is posing severe risks to people, including more than 11 million children under the age of five.

Air pollution levels broke records in the provincial capital, Lahore, and several other districts this past week, surpassing the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by more than 100 times, the UN agency reported in a statement issued in Islamabad and New York Monday.

It stated that hundreds of people, including dozens of children, have been hospitalized in hard-hit cities, and the pollution is so severe that it is visible from space.

“As smog continues to persist in Punjab province, I am extremely concerned about the well-being of young children who are forced to breathe polluted, toxic air,” Abdullah Fadil, the UNICEF representative in Pakistan, said in a statement issued in Islamabad.

He called for urgent efforts to reduce air pollution and protect children’s health, noting that even before the record-breaking levels of smog, about 12% of deaths in children under five in Pakistan were attributed to air pollution.

“The impact of this year’s extraordinary smog will take time to assess, but we know that doubling and tripling the amount of pollution in the air will have devastating effects, particularly on children and pregnant women,” Fadil said.

Authorities in Punjab have closed schools in smog-affected districts until mid-November in their bid to protect children from smog, particularly during the morning commute when levels are often at their highest. Additionally, visits to parks, zoos, playgrounds, and other recreational places have been prohibited until November 17 to limit public exposure to air pollution.

The provincial government has made it compulsory for everyone in Lahore to wear a face mask, while 50% of employees must work from home as part of what is dubbed the “green lockdown” in the city. Barbecuing food without filters at restaurants is banned, and wedding halls must close at 10 p.m.

“As a result, the learning of almost 16 million children in Punjab has been disrupted. Pakistan, already in the grips of an education emergency with 26.2 million children out of school, cannot afford more learning losses,” the UNICEF representative said.

“Every child has the right to clean air. Children’s health and right to an education must be protected. UNICEF calls on the Government of Pakistan to fulfill these rights for every child.”

At the same time, he said that reducing emissions from agriculture and industry, along with promoting clean energy and transportation, are not only essential for climate change mitigation but also for protecting children’s health.

The UNICEF country chief described the opening of a two-week annual U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan on Monday as a “real opportunity” to turn words into action before it’s too late.

“We cannot afford to let our babies breathe toxic air. We cannot let the health, education, and well-being of millions of children suffer. For the sake of our children and their future, we must take urgent action today.”

Leaders from nearly 200 countries, Including Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, are attending the U.N. conference, COP29, in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. They are expected to discuss initiatives to promote climate change solutions, especially after a year of weather disasters that have increased developing countries’ demands for climate adaptation funding.