Pakistan launches first anticipatory action strategy to reduce climate disaster risks

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan has launched its first-ever National Anticipatory Action Strategy, a major step aimed at strengthening disaster preparedness and reducing the impact of climate-related emergencies on vulnerable communities across the country. The strategy introduces a proactive approach to disaster management by using weather forecasts and risk analysis to trigger early funding and protective measures before disasters occur. Officials say the initiative is designed to help safeguard lives, livelihoods and essential infrastructure by shifting the focus from emergency response to disaster prevention and preparedness. The strategy has been developed with technical support from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), with financial assistance from the European Union (EU). It builds on joint efforts to strengthen early warning systems, improve disaster preparedness protocols and integrate anticipatory action into national and provincial disaster management plans. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman Lt Gen Inam Haider Malik said timely preparedness, effective early warning systems and coordinated institutional responses are essential to reducing humanitarian and economic losses caused by climate-induced disasters. Pakistan remains one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Climate-related disasters have caused an estimated more than US$18 billion in damage over the past two decades, with losses exceeding US$60 billion when the devastating floods of 2010, 2011 and 2022 are included. The 2025 monsoon floods affected nearly 6.9 million people, while authorities have already issued warnings of droughts and flash floods linked to El Niño conditions during 2026. The effectiveness of anticipatory action was demonstrated during the 2025 floods in Sindh’s Khairpur district, where 15,000 vulnerable people received cash assistance equivalent to PKR50,000 per h