On Wednesday 18^th February, 2026. Mr. Ahmad Rafay Alam, delivered a lecture to the participants of 39^th SMC on “Environmental Management”. Mr. Alam is a Pakistani environmental lawyer specializing in energy, water, natural resources and urban infrastructure sectors. He teaches climate law and policy at Lahore University of Management Sciences. He is a Yale World Fellow and currently serves as Senior Advisor to Air Quality Asia and as a member of the Hisaar Foundation Think Tank on the Rational Use of Water.

Mr. Ahmad Rafay Alam gave an overview of environmental laws, both federal and provincial, with special focus on Punjab environmental quality standards for drinking water, noise, industrial gaseous emissions and others. He detailed how enforcement of environment protection laws is lacking, and government initiatives are not followed up.

Mr. Ahmad Rafay Alam discussed the implications of water and air pollution as well as climate change for Pakistan. He gave the example of smog in Lahore and how it is not a seasonal issue but is in fact directly related to air pollution and climate change. He extrapolated that it would take years of controlling car emissions, industrial waste, planting green belts and undertaking other measures to improve air quality and impact of smog.

He concluded the session by apprising the participants that there is a need for urgency with regards to environmental management and protection; if we are to safeguard our future generations.