April 23, 2026
We're excited to share this insightful paper by recent SCARP graduate Dr. Sunya Zaman and SCARP Professor Nora Angeles.
Published in the Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, it deep-dives on countries and people especially vulnerable to climate-induced disasters.
Drs. Zaman and Angeles' latest paper:
Discursive power of risks, resilience, and responsibility in multi-scalar climate and disaster governance: evidence from Pakistan
by Dr. Sunya Zaman and Dr. Leonora Angeles
Dr. Zaman and Dr. Angeles found that stakeholders in Pakistan's disaster risk governance system understand and interpret disaster ‘risk’ and ‘responsibility’ differently. This results in diverse interpretations among city and provincial government officials, academics, NGO staff, private consulting firms, and urban informal settlers who face disproportionate climate and disaster risks.
This phenomenon produces responsibility-related tensions and ‘blame games’ between communities experiencing vulnerability and the gatekeepers of centralised political power and local governance systems.
The authors call for greater autonomy for local communities and trusted socio-political institutions that can critically shape the effectiveness of disaster risk reduction and resilience initiatives.
As shown in the authors' research findings and illustrated in the diagram below, on-the-ground realities of institutional planning are noticeably different than official understandings, revealing a far more complex institutional-political landscape of disaster resilience governance. This includes the involvement of Pakistan’s armed forces, judiciary, community organisations, local, national and international media, as well as a range of international organisations working alongside civil society.
As Dr. Zaman and Dr. Angeles commented:
Planners across scales need to understand the institutional and political constraints — including neocolonial, military, and media influences — that both perpetuate scalar inequalities and hinder the adaptation of global resilience norms to local contexts. As we reveal how disaster risk reduction and resilience interventions are deeply embedded in political and institutional logics affecting land, communities, and ecosystems, planning institutions must re-evaluate how power structures within intergovernmental systems shape disaster resilience challenges so that planners can proactively implement contextually appropriate strategies.
About Dr. Sunya Zaman
During her PhD at SCARP, Dr. Zaman investigated how state & nonstate actors intervene in disaster resilience planning, exposing disparities between international standards and local contexts using Pakistan as case study. Her research advocates prioritising basic human needs amidst climate crises. Since graduation, Dr. Sunya Zaman has held roles including Climate Policy Officer at Australian Red Cross.
About Professor Nora Angeles
Nora's continuing research and interests are on community and international development studies and social policy, participatory planning and governance, participatory action research, and the politics of transnational feminist networks, women’s movements and agrarian issues, particularly in the Southeast Asian region.