Government plans a $10 million fund for clean air startups
Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik announced the fund at the Pakistan National Clean Air Conference in Islamabad. The money would come from the government's own resources, and its board was due to approve it on 29 October.
Pakistan's government plans to set up a $10 million fund for startups that work on clean air. Climate Change Minister Musadik Malik announced it on 28 October at the Pakistan National Clean Air Conference in Islamabad.
Malik said the government decided to finance the fund from its own limited resources, after seeking support from development partners. He described it as "an obligation to future generations rather than a grant or loan", and said the government would pursue its clean air goals with or without outside support.
The fund's board was due to approve it on 29 October. No report has yet confirmed that it did.
The case for the fund
Malik told the conference that air pollution costs Pakistan about 6.5 percent of its gross domestic product through illness, hospital treatment and the financial strain on families. It is a man made problem, he said, caused by policy choices and economic activity, and it can be controlled.
He said the burden falls hardest on the poor. Wealthier households can buy air purifiers, while schoolchildren, street vendors, farmers and outdoor workers cannot. Citing a UNICEF report, he said polluted air harms children's lung health and growth. He also noted that farmers who burn crop residue add to the smog and suffer from it themselves.
The clean air agenda, Malik said, needs engineering solutions, effective policies and financial commitments rather than slogans. He thanked the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, UNICEF and the German development agency GIZ for their support on climate work.
A separate startup fund
The announcement is separate from the Pakistan Startup Fund. On 28 August, IT and Telecom Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja announced $10 million for the second phase of that fund, which the government hopes to grow to between $25 million and $50 million over the next few years by bringing in global institutions.
Malik has been building the case for tougher air quality rules for some months. At a stakeholder workshop on the National Clean Air Policy in Islamabad in August, he said national collective action was needed, with monitoring and enforcement of environmental standards and reforms in industry, transport and energy. He also said the government was promoting electric vehicles to improve air quality.
Enforcement is already under way in the provinces. Between 28 September and 27 October, Punjab inspected 11,580 brick kilns, demolished 197 substandard ones and sealed 163. It registered 162 cases and imposed fines of Rs40.7 million.
