Human Rights Commission of Pakistan calls for strict enforcement of Article 9A to guarantee Pakistanis' right to a clean and sustainable environment

Islamabad [Pakistan] September 1 (ANI): The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has released a report emphasising the importance of enforcing Article 9A of the Constitution to ensure citizens have access to clean air, safe drinking water, waste management, disaster readiness, and environmental justice, according to a report by Dawn.

Article 9A of the Constitution guarantees the fundamental right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. However, this crucial right has largely been overlooked in public discussions, even as the nation faces an escalating climate and environmental crisis, as stated by the HRCP in a statement noted by Dawn.

Pakistan continues to rank as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, with disasters occurring more frequently: flash floods, droughts, glacial lake outbursts, and heatwaves are no longer uncommon. Major urban areas such as Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Faisalabad are now among the highest polluted cities globally, while issues like deforestation and loss of biodiversity continue to deteriorate unnoticed. The report, titled 'The promise of Article 9A, bridging constitutional rights and environmental governance,' establishes a constitutional basis for advocating for clean air, safe drinking water, waste management, disaster preparedness, and access to environmental justice. It emphasized that this right compels the state not just to avoid harming the environment but also to actively protect and fulfil citizens' rights through robust policies, necessary infrastructure, and the application of environmental standards, as reported by Dawn.

This involves creating transparent systems for monitoring and reporting air and water quality, enhancing judicial and policy frameworks to ensure that Article 9A is effectively implemented, recognising that climate justice must be linked to social and economic fairness, and fostering long-term resilience by integrating sustainable development with constitutional rights. The report asserts that acknowledging a fundamental right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a vital initial step in addressing Pakistan's climate vulnerabilities. In the short term, this would necessitate alterations in laws, policies, and judicial practices to safeguard this fundamental right, as highlighted by Dawn.

The report offered recommendations it believes could facilitate the realisation of this constitutional right both in substance and intent. It suggests that current laws related to environmental protection, forestry, waterways, urban planning, waste management, wildlife, and fisheries need to be revised to align with Article 9A. Furthermore, it emphasised the urgent need for new legislation to tackle overlooked aspects of environmental and climate issues.

At a policy level, sustainability should be the primary consideration for any government initiative or state action. Any new project, proposal, or initiative undertaken by government authorities must comply with the requirement of supporting a sustainable environment, ensuring that nothing within such endeavours violates the constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, Dawn reported.

The existing Climate Change Council, formed under the Climate Change Act 2017, face potential constitutional challenges due to the omission of environmental and climate change issues from the federal legislative list. (ANI)

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