Rubab Nazar, Green Blogger
Revolution is an universal concept and it
always results in a change. Industrial Revolution has significant historical
importance in terms of economic and environmental implications. Urbanization
provides the enlightening facilities of comfortable residence, convenient transport,
quality education, sound healthcare and an easy to industrial products. These
ingredients of urban life always urge people to turn towards cities. No doubt
that urbanization is a step towards development but there is need to assure if
this development is really sustainable?
In the present time, the rate of
urbanization is increasing tremendously. According to World Economic Forum, 54%
of the world’s population is resident of urban areas and by 2030 cities will be
home for 63% of the global population. When the urban population increases to
such extent, the climatic impacts also become manifold.
The role of cities in driving climate
change is determined by the measure of air emissions from transport and
industrial sectors. According to Asian Development Bank, cities have 80% contribution
to global GDP and according to IPCC, cities have 75% contribution to global
carbon emissions. This shows that in the process of urbanization,
sustainability is left far behind in various sectors. Resultantly, the
unsustainable industrial growth and increased number of vehicles on the roads
will result in the high magnitude of air pollution leading to Climate Change. A
report of IEA depicts that 70% of the global energy is consumed by cities.
Deforestation and change in land use
patterns are appearing as the negative outcomes of urbanization. For the
development of urban areas, agricultural land is cleared out and diverse
infrastructures are built. Then, there becomes the need to broaden the roads to
accommodate that massive flow of vehicles. Due to this the practice of cutting
trees along the roads is becoming common. Hence, the sinks of Carbon
Sequestration are being lost rapidly. Forest area must cover 25% of a country’s
total land but in Pakistan it covers only 1.9% of the total area.
Lahore, which is the second largest city of
Pakistan, is continuously suffering from the influence of rapid urbanization.
Although this city keeps industrial and economic fame, but its worst air
quality is the evidence of changed land use patterns in this city. A research
conducted in Lahore using Remote Sensing and GIS shows that every year more
than 1200 hectares of the city’s agricultural and forest land is captured for
urban uses. Moreover, every year 200 new housing schemes are introduced to
accommodate the population burden of Lahore. Since 1972 to onwards, around 250
villages have been swallowed by the urban growth of Lahore city. According to WHO,
the concentration of PM 2.5 in Lahore’s air was recorded 136.5 µg/m3
during the winter smog in 2019. The scenario of this city can be picturized for
all unsustainable industrial cities of the world to imagine the drastic
conditions into which the climate is changing.
In the light of Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), urbanization has both positive and negative aspects. By the
development of cities, the fulfillment of SDG 4(Quality Education), SDG 8
(Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and
Infrastructure) can be ensured. However, urbanization has negative trend in
relevance to SDG 13 (Climate Action) because cities provoke climate change such
that it results in floods, droughts, hurricanes and variable weather patterns.
Hence, it requires the force of global climate action to stop and to mitigate
the emissions from urban areas.
Industrialization is the primary tool for
economic growth of any country. Developed countries boosted their economy by
setting industries and explored natural resources of oil, coal and petroleum to
run their industries which resulted in negative climatic impacts. This fact
cannot be ignored that developed countries have higher contribution to global
emissions but now this also cannot be denied that those countries have applied
sustainability in their development. It is very essential for developing
countries to ensure sustainable development because these countries are already
facing the consequences of fossil fuel burning done by developed countries.
The need is to integrate sustainable
solutions into industrial and transportation sectors. Developed countries are economically
strong enough to mitigate the air emissions coming from various sectors. If
developing countries do not move on the path of green technology, the effect of
climate change can double for them. Policy making must be done by the
government such that the industries releasing air emissions should be charged.
Also, the government can provide incentives or subsidies. Carbon scrubbers must
be installed by the industries and the process of LCA must be followed. The
carbon footprints of fuel to be used in industry and transport should be
determined. Catalytic converters must be installed in vehicles. Afforestation
and public transportation must be encouraged. Renewable energy is the ultimate
solution to act as Sustainable Cities and Communities!
About the Author: Rubab Nazar
is an undergraduate student of Environmental Science at GC University, Lahore.
In the present time of various environmental crises, she wants to play her
individual role by creating awareness with the power of pen. She has research
interests in Climate Change and Sustainability.
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