CLIMATE CHANGE REPORTING IN PAKISTANI NEWSPAPERS: EXPLORING THE PREDOMINANT THEMES

Abstract

Climate change stands as one of the most persistent challenges confronting the contemporary world. Its adverse impacts are disproportionately severe for poorer and developing nations, where limited resources exacerbate vulnerability. Pakistan, consistently ranked among the countries most affected by climate change, faces a wide spectrum of consequences ranging from intensifying heatwaves and recurrent floods to accelerated glacial melt, all of which threaten human life, biodiversity, and ecological stability in the region. In this context, the media assumes a pivotal role in raising public awareness, shaping and framing environmental discourses, and sensitizing policymakers and think tanks toward sustainable environmental practices. Nonetheless, existing scholarship suggests that the scope, depth, and framing of climate change reporting in Pakistan remain limited and often fall short of meeting the urgency of the crisis. Employing a well-designed and tested code book we have conducted a deductive thematic analysis to explore and analyze the predominant themes available in the climate change reporting given by the prominent Pakistani newspapers during April 15th to May 14th, 2025. Our findings show that the news reports contained themes such as; “Environmental Disasters and Crisis Events”, “Economic Implications”, “Policy and Governance”, “Public Awareness and Education”, “Climate Justice and Social Inequality”, and “International Climate Discourse and Pakistan”, “International Climate Discourse and Pakistan”.