DESPITE much talk about climate change, developing societies have yet to improve their understanding of its dynamics and response. ADB says that Pakistan loses over $2 billion a year on average due to climate disasters, making it one of the region’s most climate-vulnerable countries.

Climate change is changing policing roles. Besides crime, police are now also expected to handle disaster management, help with evacuation, rescue, control traffic, secure relief camps and distribution points, protect abandoned properties, provide public health support, mediate resource conflict, defend infrastructure and maintain order during climate shocks. Disasters increase security functions; police have to protect dams, water channels, power stations, telecom systems, hospitals, relief centres and supply chains. Climate change impacts policing in urban, rural, coastal and mountainous areas. Heatwaves impact public order; power outages and water shortages can result in angry crowds disrupting relief and food operations.

Floods and earthquakes damage roads and bridges, impacting patrolling and further straining police resources. Climate-driven relocations create long-term needs for conflict mediation. In rural areas, floods cause crop damage, livestock deaths and food depletion. Families may move from rural to urban areas, putting pressure on host communities and a greater burden on police to resolve disputes and address crime.

Disasters damage communication infrastructure, complicating LEAs’ search-and-rescue operations and coordination with disaster management authorities (DMAs). Emergency calls increase. Tourist safety during glacier melt must be ensured by police (last June, surging rivers killed marooned tourists in Swat). Climate change impacts crime patterns as complaints of water theft, land disputes, illegal mining and black-market trade in scarce resources increase. Extreme weather affects police stations, vehicles and communication systems, complicating response.

Climate change is changing policing roles.

Climate stress leads to greater timber smuggling, forest encroachment and wildlife hunting and smuggling — situations conducive to cyber fraud, fake NGOs, fraud in aid distribution, corruption in reconstruction contracts and theft in evacuated areas. Climate change intensifies conditions conducive to crimes like domestic violence. Floods destroy crops and livestock. Agriculture-related thefts increase, which may intensify conflict between upstream and downstream communities and lead to post-flood encroachment in fertile areas. In developing countries, militant groups may fill gaps in government relief operations to win sympathisers, recruit members and raise funds. Special branches, CTDs and networking with communities must address this. Effective response needs collaboration with LGs and disaster, health and environmental authorities. Joint task forces including police, forest, wildlife, irrigation, LGs and DMAs can curb timber smuggling and riverbank encroachments. Dedicated police climate-security units can be created for rapid deployment, drone mapping, and coordination with NDMA and PDMAs. Police should integrate climate risk into SOPs for disaster response. A climate-related data system can help anticipate crime trends across seasons.

Community policing can mobilise local volunteer networks to disseminate early warnings, assist the elderly and disabled in evacuation, monitor illegal activities like water theft and prevent panic. Improved response requires changes in police training to deal with crowd management, resource dispute mediation and climate migrants. Stress management, first aid, flood navigation, water rescue and environmental crime investigation training should be provided to officers in vulnerable areas.

Police should buy drones for disaster surveillance, mobile systems for blackouts and uniforms suitable to weather and terrain. Drones can monitor flood and forest crime, GPS can help patrol remote areas, and solar-powered communication towers can boost prevention and response. Climate-resilient police stations need solar backup, elevated design, better ventilation and emergency water storage. Special units should operate during disasters, predict post-disaster crime spikes and create climate-linked crime databases. Resource dispute mediation and awareness of disaster preparedness can be enhanced via community policing with the help of local leaders and jirgas.

Climate change is a public safety challenge. Police can only be on the front lines if their planning, training, finances, coordination and operations are prioritised. By integrating climate resilience into policing, Pakistan can better protect vulnerable communities as climate risks escalate.

The writer is a published author. The article is based on a talk by him at a provincial summit on climate change & disaster risk reduction at Governor House, Peshawar.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026