By: James Rehmat
Lahore, Pakistan: As smog blankets the bustling city of Lahore each winter, local faith leaders are rallying their communities across religious lines to tackle what has become one of the region’s most persistent environmental and public health challenges. Thick, choking air pollution—fueled by vehicular emissions, industrial pollutants, and seasonal crop burning—regularly drives the city’s air quality index to hazardous levels, affecting visibility and leading to serious health risks, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. In a unique response, faith communities in Lahore have joined forces, seeing the battle against smog as a shared moral and social responsibility.
Lahore, home to a variety of religious communities including Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, and Hindus, has seen an emerging alliance among faith leaders committed to environmental preservation. This cooperative effort seeks not only to address immediate pollution concerns but also to cultivate long-term habits of environmental stewardship among the public.
Faith leaders across the city are leveraging their influence to raise awareness, educate congregants, and foster community engagement in sustainable practices. Campaigns supported by environmental groups and health organizations, as well as faith-based organizations, have brought together religious leaders who promote the message of environmental care within their respective traditions. Imams, for instance, have incorporated environmental messages in Friday sermons, urging responsible consumption and waste reduction. Christian priests have similarly spoken to their congregants about caring for creation, while Sikh leaders promote the principle of Sarbat da Bhala—or “welfare for all”—by advocating environmental responsibility as a collective duty.
The collaboration is taking concrete shape in the form of several initiatives. Over recent years, interfaith groups have launched tree-planting drives across the city, encouraging local communities to plant trees around religious sites, schools, and hospitals. These efforts help reduce pollution levels while beautifying public spaces, with trees absorbing carbon dioxide and producing cleaner air.
In addition to tree-planting efforts, religious communities have organized seminars, workshops, and community events focused on sustainable practices. By promoting small behavioral changes such as carpooling, using public transport, reducing waste, and shifting to cleaner energy sources, faith leaders aim to encourage individuals to adopt environmentally conscious habits. These events bring together people from diverse backgrounds, reinforcing the shared responsibility to protect Lahore’s environment.
Faith leaders have also advocated for stricter environmental policies, using their collective influence to call for tougher regulations on vehicle emissions and industrial pollutants. By meeting with city officials and presenting a unified front, they hope to push for policies that address smog at its source and create a cleaner urban environment.
Educational outreach has been another key focus. Faith communities are working to instill environmental values among young people, with initiatives aimed at teaching youth about the environmental principles embedded within their respective religious traditions. This emphasis on stewardship seeks to foster a sense of responsibility for the environment as part of spiritual and moral development.
To further encourage sustainable practices, faith communities are also promoting eco-friendly transportation choices. Leaders from various religious traditions have encouraged their followers to reduce car usage, opt for carpooling, or choose cycling and walking when possible, reinforcing the idea that transportation habits can have a meaningful impact on air quality.
In addition, interfaith coalitions have begun hosting green festivals, featuring activities and discussions focused on environmental care. These gatherings, which include art exhibits and interactive events, aim to raise awareness while fostering unity among Lahore’s diverse religious communities around a common cause.
The religious principles underlying this interfaith movement provide a strong foundation for collaborative environmental action. Across faith traditions, environmental stewardship is a core value: in Islam, the concept of Khalifah reflects the duty to protect God’s creation; Christianity calls for stewardship of God’s earth; Sikhism emphasizes harmony with nature as sacred; and Hinduism sees nature as divine, making its protection a moral duty. These shared values have brought together faith communities to advocate for clean air and a healthier Lahore.
As Lahore’s interfaith coalition against smog continues to grow, faith leaders hope that their collective efforts will create a sustainable impact on the city’s environment. By combining practical actions with public advocacy, they aim to create momentum for policy changes that address Lahore’s environmental challenges. This joint initiative offers a model of cooperation that transcends religious differences, demonstrating how shared values can foster a more sustainable and healthier future for Lahore’s residents.
The writer is faith-based development practitioner, leading to the Ecumenical Commission for Human Development.
