A Global Call for Climate Action: Imran Khan's Environmental Discourse and Pakistan's Vision for Green Future
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48047/HM.10.1.2024.170-195Keywords:
Imran Khan, climate change discourse, Critical Discourse Analysis, Framing Theory, vulnerability, climate justice, nature-based solutions, Pakistan.Abstract
This research conducted a critical discourse analysis of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s climate change speeches and how they relate to nation identities and global climate change, mainly with reference to Pakistan. The research was to assess how the disclosed climate discourse of Khan, focusing on a nature-based approach including the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami and Recharge Pakistan, accords with the principles of the CDA and Framing Theory. A qualitative approach was adopted. The study examined speeches, policy statements, and media performances with CDA to identify relations of power, ideology, and framing. The theoretical frameworks of critical discourse analysis and framing theory were utilized. Data comprised Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speeches and statements regarding climate and policy documents concerning climate change. The patterns of emerging themes like powerlessness, leadership, climate change, and climate justice, as well as the common strategies of framing, including efforts to market Pakistan as a leader in climate negotiations. The study shows that through the analyzed corpus, Khan shapes Pakistan’s climate image based on both sensitization on climate effects and enacting climate solutions, such as forestation and green energy transformation. The presentation of climate justice and equity is a function of the politics of developed and developing countries and therefore embeds Pakistan into the climate regime. Additionally, Khan includes human rights and equity that focus on beneficiaries of climate adaptation and encompass participatory justice for minority groups. This research concluded that through employing climate change discourse, Imran Khan built the image of Pakistan as a responsible state in responding to the triple planetary crisis by both advocating for environmental change and prioritizing the socio-economic demands of the grieved population in Pakistan. The findings of the research are relevant to enhancing knowledge about how political rhetoric affects climate policies and international environmental stewardship.
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