Pakistan ranks among the top ten most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world. Rising temperature, water scarcity, food insecurity, floods and air pollution are Pakistan's most pressing environmental issues leading to further socio economic challenges. In summer 2025, climate-change driven floods claimed more than 500 lives, displaced tens of thousands, and damaged thousands of homes, schools, and vital infrastructure causing massive humanitarian and economic devastation across Pakistan (OCHA, 2025).
Despite severe damage and loss in the past two decades, Pakistan failed to carve out an efficient and effective policy frame-work to tackle the climate-driven crisis. The reason is not geography, but governance. The weak democratic foundations of Pakistan make its institutions inefficient and ineffective, leading to exacerbation of every other crisis. This article frames climate change in Pakistan as a political and governance failure that can be mitigated through an efficient liberal democracy. It establishes that a healthy democracy bringing institutional accountability, inclusive policies, supporting free media, and crafting long-term resilient policies can alleviate the impacts of climate change on Pakistan.
Weak Democracy Leads to the Failure of Climate Action: Pakistan has committed to addressing Climate Change under UN’s Sustainable Development goal 13 –Climate Action, but struggles to fulfill this promise. Its failure is rooted in the flawed democratic system of Pakistan that leads to weak institutions, exclusionary policy formulation, and short-term policy approach.
1) Institutional Failure and Accountability Deficit: The major reason for governance failure in Pakistan is due to its weak institutions which are the result of accountability deficit. The lack of meritocracy, fair elections and strong accountability lead to corruption. This is the reason policies and programs such as National Climate Change Policy, Climate Change Act, 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, and Living Indus Initiative etc, never get fully implemented.
2) Exclusionary Policy Formulation: Due to weak democratic values, there is little to no space for participation of local and vulnerable communities in policy formulation. The elite capture of policymaking in Pakistan leads to frameworks that facilitate the expansion of housing societies, deforestation and illegal encroachments, often bypassing local farmers, agricultural workers, and rural communities. Additionally, the exclusionary policy formulation tends to sidelines the role of civil-society and humanitarian actors, avoiding critical oversight and halting improvements in existing governance structures.
3) Short-term Policy Approach: The policy formulation and implementation in Pakistan is fueled by short-term benefits to win electoral support instead of building a roadmap for long-term sustainable solutions to crises such as climate change. The political parties in Pakistan focus on short-term projects like roads, bridges that generate immediate electoral benefits for them instead of focusing on long-term, less tangible projects such as climate resilience, ecosystem restoration, or decarbonization. The focus on a five-years government term while working only in self-interested sectors often neglects the interests of all citizens, including future generations, which is a core democratic principle.
A Comparative Analysis of Climate Action with Strong Democracies: While Pakistan bears the brunt of climate change due to weak institutional performance and governance gaps, strong democracies around the world are leading the transition toward sustainable and climate-resilient development. Strong democratic principles provide space for strong institutions resulting in efficient and effective policy formulation and implementation.
While Pakistan’s key climate initiatives such as National Climate Change Policy, Climate Change Act, 10 Billion Tree Tsunami, and Living Indus Initiative became victims of corruption and impunity, other democracies present contrasting models. The United Kingdom has achieved cross-party consensus on climate policy and long-term sustainable development agendas. Germany’s Energiewende (Energy Transition) has positioned it as a global leader in energy conservation. Transparent and accountable governance in Norway made oil fund and green investments’ management a success for its sustainable development. Similarly, Denmark’s community-owned wind farms exemplify inclusive, participatory climate action. These examples serve as compelling testimony that strong democratic institutions enable effective and equitable climate governance.
Before economic parity is questioned, it is essential to recognize that climate action is not the privilege of wealthy nations, it is a product of resilient institutions nurtured in strong democratic values. Costa Rica, for example, is a developing country yet it is emerging one of world’s top leaders in renewable energy and conservation. It is generating almost 95% of its electricity from clean sources like solar wind and hydropower. This success is not guaranteed by wealth only, but by transparent governance, public engagement, accountability, and long-term policy vision.
Way Forward: Enhancing Climate Action through Strong Democratic Values: As discussed earlier, the governance gap in Pakistan continues to exacerbate the climate-induced disasters every passing year, leaving the country stuck in a cycle of reactive crisis management rather than proactive resilience-building. Following are a few policy recommendations that can shape Pakistan's policy-frameworks in a way that leads to proactive, efficient and effective climate actions in the wake of current disasters:
1) Strong Institutional Foundations: Pakistan should work on building its institutions on the foundations core democratic principles such as rule of law, transparency and accountability, meritocracy, equal and fair representation, and decentralization. Only institutions rooted in resilient democratic values can effectively serve the public and carve out policies that mitigate climate-driven disasters in Pakistan.
2) Strengthening Participatory Approach: Pakistan should adopt a participatory approach while formulating and implementing climate policies. People who are most vulnerable to climate change disasters such as farmers, agricultural workers and people from local communities must be taken in confidence while formulating and implementing policies for climate action. This can be done through strengthening the participatory approach that is a key democratic value to build public trust and bring mutually beneficial policies for everyone.
3) Long-term Policy Approach: Pakistan’s political culture must shift from party-centric agendas and five-year electoral cycles focused on visible, short-lived development projects to long-term policy frameworks that prioritize generational resilience, sustainability, and inclusive growth. Only then can the country begin to build resilient and long-term policies that address existential challenges such as climate change.
4) Promoting Media Participation and Civil Engagement: A steadfast democracy thrives on the free navigation of information and the active involvement of its citizens. In Pakistan, however, the role of media and civil engagement remains undermined, particularly in the context of climate governance. Independent media plays a crucial role in amplifying marginalized voices, representing underaddressed communities, holding public figures and governmental institutions accountable and spreading public awareness.
Pakistan’s inability to materialize climate policies and strengthen climate governance stems from lack of meritocracy in its institutions, exclusionary approach in policy formulation and implementation, short-sighted agenda setting, and fragile rule of law that undermines accountability. These democratic deficits have left the country grappling with climate disasters for decades, entangling its policy-frameworks in a web of reactive crisis management rather than enabling a transition to proactive resilience building. In order to mitigate the climate crisis, strengthen disaster preparedness and transition to sustainable development, Pakistan must embrace a democratic transformation. Only institutions grounded in meritocracy, accountability, and civic engagement– creating space for transparent governance, inclusive participation, and long-term vision– can give Pakistan a resilient and sustainable future.
