Rising voices, fading policies: Public resistance to climate inaction in Pakistan’s democracy

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Authors: Sadiq Shah, Meena Gul, Muhammad Zeeshan Naseer
Cited by: 0

Abstract

This paper seems to investigate how individuals in Pakistan react to environmental policies being undermined, and how they engage in protests, mobilization and politics. It attempts to discover whether they are made based on care of nature, believe in democracy or it is because of economic issues. The authors consider the survey information (collected among approximately 2,000 people) and consider the feelings voiced in social media and the evidence of protests accumulated over the past five years to investigate the research issue. There is a small sample of qualitative interviews that should provide a more in-depth background to the findings. The findings seem to indicate that unwinding or inaction on the policies leads to increased civic engagement, particularly among the young urban residents and communities that are most likely to be affected by environmental problems. It is high by all standards, according to statistics that individuals who feel that their democracy is sound tend more to protest or support reforms based on environmental issues. It indicates that Pakistanis are increasingly becoming environmental conscious and how democracy is able to assist them to do whatever they want to do about their interests.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan Pakistan and Middle East Water Governance and Infrastructure Transboundary Water Resource Management

Publication details

Journal / source
Social Sciences Spectrum
Volume
4
Issue
2
Publication date
3 January 2026