A smog-choked province in eastern Pakistan has issued a rare plea for cross-border collaboration with India, as major cities in both countries endure severe air pollution that risks the health of millions.
Officials in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous province of 127 million people, have drafted a letter to the Indian government to open a dialogue on the issue, Punjabi Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Raja Jahangir Anwar said.
"We need climate diplomacy, as a regional and global issue," Anwar told CNN, just days after Punjab's megacity of Lahore, roughly 15 miles from the Indian border, saw its highest-ever levels of air pollution.
"We are suffering in Lahore in a way due to the eastern wind corridor coming from India," he said. "We are not blaming anyone, it's a natural phenomenon."
India and Pakistan have for decades navigated fraught and at times hostile relations, but as the issue of toxic air worsens, the neighbors are being forced to confront their shared responsibility – and fate – when it comes to the climate.
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📷: Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images; Sakib Ali/Hindustan Times/Getty Images; Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times/Getty Images
A recent survey shows that most large businesses are failing to incorporate climate risks into new construction projects. This exposes developments to flood and extreme weather damage while undermining efforts to reach net zero Whole Life Carbon. Insurers are increasingly pressing for resilience planning, and the lack of a Whole Life Carbon Assessment in early project stages leaves significant risks unaddressed. Developers treating Embodied Carbon as a marginal issue face higher long-term costs rather than true Life Cycle Cost control.
Institutional capital is rapidly shifting towards sustainable construction, moving beyond climate risk debates to fund resilience and low carbon design. This trend is unlocking investment in sustainable building design and net zero carbon buildings, aligning financial flows with environmental sustainability in construction. For developers, demonstrating life cycle thinking in construction and proving reduced Embodied Carbon in materials is becoming critical to accessing large-scale finance.
The University of Derby has launched the Institute of Carbonomics to advance research in reducing emissions across industries. While broader in scope, the initiative is set to influence eco-design for buildings and sustainable architecture, embedding lifecycle assessment and sustainable building practices into commercial decision-making. Its outputs are expected to shape climate-smart construction by linking resource efficiency in construction to Whole Life Carbon reduction strategies.
Private investment momentum is also growing. Gresham House’s acquisition of clean energy investor SUSI Partners increases its capacity to fund green infrastructure, net zero carbon projects, and Circular Economy in construction approaches. This creates deeper capital pools for low carbon building technologies and renewable building materials, enabling more developers to pursue carbon neutral construction without prohibitive upfront costs.
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The “Nature in Contracts” initiative, supported by the UK Green Building Council, signals growing attention to biodiversity and the environmental impact of construction within procurement frameworks. By embedding nature-positive clauses, developers are being pushed towards circular construction strategies, sustainable urban development, and environmental product declarations (EPDs). This integration signals a future where green construction becomes inseparable from legal and financial compliance, sharpening the focus on Embodied Carbon in materials and building lifecycle performance.
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