Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment

The urgency of addressing Pakistan's environmental problems has probably never been greater. Conservative estimates presented in this report suggest that environmental degradation costs the country at least 6 percent of GDP, or about Rs. 365 b...

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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/132221468087836074/Main-report
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33928
id okr-10986-33928
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-339282021-04-23T14:01:58Z Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment World Bank ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISK NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY INSTITUTIONS AIR QUALITY WATER AND SANITATION DRINKING WATER WATER AND SANITATION DONOR COORDINATION ACCOUNTABILITY GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS The urgency of addressing Pakistan's environmental problems has probably never been greater. Conservative estimates presented in this report suggest that environmental degradation costs the country at least 6 percent of GDP, or about Rs. 365 billion per year, and these costs fall disproportionately upon the poor. The most significant causes of environmental damage identified and estimated in this report are (1) illness and premature mortality caused by air pollution (indoor and outdoor), (almost 50 percent oft he total damage cost); (2) diarrhoeal diseases and typhoid due to inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene (about 30 percent of the total), and (3) reduced agricultural productivity due to soil degradation (about 20 percent of the total). The magnitude of these costs indicates that environmental decay has become a serious development concern. Following a discussion of the analytical framework for environmental outcomes, , the report analyzes the main binding constraints to improving environmental performance as falling into four categories, (1) gaps in institutional design, (2) gaps in the regulatory framework, (3) capacity limitations, and (4) gaps in incentives and accountability. Of these, weak incentives and low levels of public accountability remain the critical constraints on performance. Public scrutiny of performance is ultimately a source of strength that leads to stronger institutions with greater public trust and support. The principal features of these constraints are discussed, as are recommendations for moving forward to more sustainable economic growth. The annex (Volume 2) provides a comprehensive overview of the data and methods used to estimate the costs of environmental degradation in three environmental damage categories and three natural resource damage categories: (1) urban air pollution, including particulate matter and lead, (2) water supply, sanitation and hygiene, (3) indoor air pollution, (4) agricultural damage from soil salinity and erosion, (5) rangeland degradation, and (6) deforestation. Data limitations have prevented estimation of degradation costs at the national level for coastal zones, municipal waste disposal, and inadequate industrial and hospital waste management. 2020-06-17T16:00:20Z 2020-06-17T16:00:20Z 2006-08-21 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/132221468087836074/Main-report http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33928 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Country Environmental Analysis South Asia Pakistan
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISK
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
INSTITUTIONS
AIR QUALITY
WATER AND SANITATION
DRINKING WATER
WATER AND SANITATION
DONOR COORDINATION
ACCOUNTABILITY
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
spellingShingle ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH RISK
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
INSTITUTIONS
AIR QUALITY
WATER AND SANITATION
DRINKING WATER
WATER AND SANITATION
DONOR COORDINATION
ACCOUNTABILITY
GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
World Bank
Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment
geographic_facet South Asia
Pakistan
description The urgency of addressing Pakistan's environmental problems has probably never been greater. Conservative estimates presented in this report suggest that environmental degradation costs the country at least 6 percent of GDP, or about Rs. 365 billion per year, and these costs fall disproportionately upon the poor. The most significant causes of environmental damage identified and estimated in this report are (1) illness and premature mortality caused by air pollution (indoor and outdoor), (almost 50 percent oft he total damage cost); (2) diarrhoeal diseases and typhoid due to inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene (about 30 percent of the total), and (3) reduced agricultural productivity due to soil degradation (about 20 percent of the total). The magnitude of these costs indicates that environmental decay has become a serious development concern. Following a discussion of the analytical framework for environmental outcomes, , the report analyzes the main binding constraints to improving environmental performance as falling into four categories, (1) gaps in institutional design, (2) gaps in the regulatory framework, (3) capacity limitations, and (4) gaps in incentives and accountability. Of these, weak incentives and low levels of public accountability remain the critical constraints on performance. Public scrutiny of performance is ultimately a source of strength that leads to stronger institutions with greater public trust and support. The principal features of these constraints are discussed, as are recommendations for moving forward to more sustainable economic growth. The annex (Volume 2) provides a comprehensive overview of the data and methods used to estimate the costs of environmental degradation in three environmental damage categories and three natural resource damage categories: (1) urban air pollution, including particulate matter and lead, (2) water supply, sanitation and hygiene, (3) indoor air pollution, (4) agricultural damage from soil salinity and erosion, (5) rangeland degradation, and (6) deforestation. Data limitations have prevented estimation of degradation costs at the national level for coastal zones, municipal waste disposal, and inadequate industrial and hospital waste management.
format Report
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment
title_short Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment
title_full Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment
title_fullStr Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment
title_full_unstemmed Pakistan Strategic Country Environmental Assessment
title_sort pakistan strategic country environmental assessment
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2020
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/132221468087836074/Main-report
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33928
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