Institutional Misalignment in Climate Risk Communication: A Critical Policy Analysis of PEMRA and NDMA in Pakistan

Abstract

Pakistan is one of the countries most at risk from the climate crisis and its institutional framework to inform the public of climate risks is poorly coordinated. This article provides a qualitative policy document analysis to explore the scope of regulatory mandate of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) and the scope of disaster management mandate of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and to analyse the structural alignment between the two to provide timely, actionable and locally relevant climate risk communication. The analysis finds that PEMRA's broadcasting mandate does not specifically mandate broadcasting of climate and disaster-risk information; NDMA's mandate on disaster awareness is not operationally linked to a specific broadcasting mandate; and recent disaster events such as the 2022 floods and the August 2025 monsoon red alert have illustrated a persistent pattern of vague, centrally issued warnings that are not translated into localized, actionable information and warnings at the provincial and district level through broadcasting. The article compares these revelations with the disaster broadcasting system in Japan, which has a strong legal framework, and concludes that the communication challenge in Pakistan's climate risk environment is not one of resource but a governance and coordination deficit between the media regulation and disaster management institutions. The article ends with policy recommendations on formalizing inter-institutional coordination mechanism between PEMRA and NDMA/PDMA.