METAPHORICAL FRAMING OF 2025 PAKISTAN’S FLOODS: AN ECO-LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF NEWSPAPER EDITORIALS

Abstract

This study examines the metaphorical representation of 2025 Pakistan floods in newspaper editorials. It applies the Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Eco-linguistics perspective as the theoretical framework. The 2025 floods affected more than two million people in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Media language strongly influences how people understand environmental crises, but metaphor use in Pakistani flood coverage has received little attention. Pakistan produces less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it is among the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. This study used a Qualitative Research method to analyze 68 metaphors collected from six editorials. The editorials were published in Al-Jazeera, BBC News, and Dawn between August and September 2025. Six main conceptual metaphor categories were identified. That included: war and conflict, health and medicine, animate forces, objects, structures, and space, and justice. War metaphors were the most common. They present floods as enemies and promote emergency responses instead of long-term prevention. Medical metaphors explain infrastructure and governance issues as more of an illness concealing policy failures and poor accountability. Among the most significant discoveries was that all the metaphors did not assign any agency to the communities that were affected by the floods. Justice metaphors emerged infrequently, and the ones that occurred were mostly those of international media. Government voices use them diplomatically, and local media addresses the issue of state responsibility and not global inequality. Comparisons between media houses indicate that changes in metaphors vary depending on the audience and intent. These metaphors narrate destructive tales as far as eco-linguistics is concerned. They naturalize and make vulnerability appear as if it is inevitable. They disregard the community involvement, prevention, and change in the long term. The study argues for alternative metaphors that support local action, justice, and democratic climate governance.