Digital media’s portrayal of climate change challenges during COP27 climate summit

Ahmed Farouk Radwan 1 * , Khayrat Ayyad 1
More Detail
1 University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 14, Issue 3, Article No: e202437. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/14647
OPEN ACCESS   1079 Views   711 Downloads   Published online: 26 May 2024
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

The study aims to investigate how digital media frame and present environmental issues and challenges of climate change in terms of four environmental and climate challenges: mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration. The study also seeks to understand the extent that government bodies mobilize digital media to disseminate and promote necessary environmental challenges during COP27 climate summit in Egypt. The study uses the discourse analysis approach to define the key themes and issues that are portrayed and to understand how digital platforms reflected the conference agenda and climate change challenges. We analyzed 119 posts and news reports published on the conference website and Instagram account during November 2022. Results revealed that the platforms framed challenges of climate change during COP27 in many ways: the opportunity to find solutions, the urgency to address climate issues, and taking immediate actions in terms of transparency, adequate finance, ease of support flow, cooperation, participation, and youth involvement. Furthermore, the data indicate that the finance challenge has a strong relationship with all themes and challenges presented and discussed on the platforms. This indicates that African countries benefited from hosting COP27 by presenting their environmental concerns, the financial, and technological challenges they face in order to obtain global support.

CITATION

Radwan, A. F., & Ayyad, K. (2024). Digital media’s portrayal of climate change challenges during COP27 climate summit. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 14(3), e202437. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/14647

REFERENCES

  • Antilla, L. (2005). Climate of skepticism: US newspaper coverage of the science of climate change. Global Environmental Change, 15(4), 338-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2005.08.003
  • Atwoli, L., Erhabor, G. E., Gbakima, A. A., Haileamlak, A., Kayembe Ntumba, J.-M., Kigera, J., Laybourn-Langton, L., Mash, B., Muhia, J., Mulaudzi, F. M., Ofori-Adjei, D., Okonofua, F., Rashidian, A., El-Adawy, M., Sidibe, S., Snouber, A., Tumwine, J., Yassien, M. S., Yonga, P., Zakhama, L., & Zielinski, C. (2022). COP27 Climate Change Conference: Urgent action needed for Africa and the World. Rheumatology Advances in Practice, 6(3), rkac082. https://doi.org/10.1093/rap/rkac082
  • Bakaki, Z., & Bernauer, T. (2016). Do global climate summits influence public awareness and policy preferences concerning climate change? Environmental Politics, 26(1), 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2016.1244964
  • Barkemeyer, R., Givry, P., & Figge, F. (2017). Trends and patterns in sustainability-related media coverage: A classification of issue-level attention. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 36(5), 937-962. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399654417732337
  • Barnsley, J., Williams, J. A., Chin-Yee, S., Costello, A., Maslin, M., McGlade, J., Taylor, R., Winning, M., & Parikh, P. (2022). Location location location: A carbon footprint calculator for transparent travel to COP27. UCL Press. https://doi.org/10.14324/111.444/000179.v1
  • Blommaert, J., & Bulcaen, C. (2000). Critical discourse analysis. Annual Review of Anthropology, 29(1), 447-466. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.29.1.447
  • Bolsen, T., Palm, R., & Kingsland, J. T. (2019). Counteracting climate science politicization with effective frames and imagery. Science Communication, 41(2), 147-171. https://doi.org/10.1177/1075547019834565
  • Boykoff, M. T., & Yulsman, T. (2013). Political economy, media, and climate change: Sinews of modern life. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 4(5), 359-371. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.233
  • Bradley, G. L., Babutsidze, Z., Chai, A., & Reser, J. P. (2020). The role of climate change risk perception, response efficacy, and psychological adaptation in pro-environmental behavior: A two nation study. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 68, 101410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101410
  • Brulle, R. J., Carmichael, J. T., & Jenkins, J. C. (2012). Shifting public opinion on climate change: An empirical assessment of factors influencing concern over climate change in the U.S., 2002-2010. Climatic Change, 114(2), 169-188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-012-0403-y
  • Chen, K., Molder, A. L., Duan, Z., Boulianne, S., Eckart, C., Mallari, P., & Yang, D. (2023). How climate movement actors and news media frame climate change and strike: Evidence from analyzing Twitter and news media discourse from 2018 to 2021. The International Journal of Press/Politics, 28(2), 384-413. https://doi.org/10.1177/19401612221106405
  • Corner, A. (2016). Climate visuals: Towards a new visual language for climate change: An evidence-based briefing for COP22 and beyond. Climate Outreach. https://talk.eco/wp-content/uploads/Climate-Visuals-Towards-a-new-visual-language-for-climate-change.pdf
  • Dalhatu, B. M., & Shehu, H. (2020). Agenda setting and framing theories: A methodological review of selected empirical studies. http://repository.futminna.edu.ng:8080/jspui/handle/123456789/4381
  • De Silva-Schmidt, F., Brüggemann, M., Hoppe, I., & Arlt, D. (2022). Learning about climate politics during COP21: Explaining a diminishing knowledge gap. Public Understanding of Science, 31(5), 617-633. https://doi.org/10.1177/09636625211068635
  • Fairclough, N. (2003). Analyzing discourse. Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203697078
  • Ford, A., & Norgaard, K. M. (2020). Whose everyday climate cultures? Environmental subjectivities and invisibility in climate change discourse. Climatic Change, 163(1), 43-62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02632-1
  • Gasparri, G., Eissa, M., Imbago-Jácome, D., & Nandini, B. (2022). Climate emergency: How should COP27 do better for adolescents and young people? BMJ, 376, o816. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.o816
  • George, G., Merrill, R. K., & Schillebeeckx, S. J. D. (2021). Digital sustainability and entrepreneurship: How digital innovations are helping tackle climate change and sustainable development. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 45(5), 999-1027. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258719899425
  • Grittmann, E. L. K. E. (2014). Between risk, beauty and the sublime: The visualization of climate change in media coverage during COP15 in Copenhagen 2009. In B. Schneider, & T. Nocke (Eds.), Image politics of climate change: Visualizations, imaginations, documentations (pp. 127-152). Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/transcript.9783839426104.127
  • Guinto, R. R., Deivanayagam, T. A., Chuji, P. T., Hossan, A., Jensen, A., Jung, L., Njuguna, E., Osborne, R., Otieno, M. A., Siddiqa, A., Singh, A., & Ewekia Taomia, B. K. (2022). Achieving climate justice, safeguarding planetary health: Diagnosis and demands from next generation leaders for COP27 and beyond. PLOS Global Public Health, 2(11), e0001304. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0001304
  • Gunay, D., Iseri, E., Ersoy, M., & Abdulateef Elega, A. (2021). Media framing of climate change action in carbon locked-in developing countries: Adaptation or mitigation? Environmental Communication, 15(5), 663-677. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2021.1885462
  • Guran, M. S., & Ozarslan, H. (2022). Sosyal medya çağında çerçeveleme teorisi [Framing theory in the age of social media]. Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi [Journal of Selcuk University Social Sciences Institute], 48, 446-457. https://doi.org/10.52642/susbed.1142562
  • Gurwitt, S., Malkki, K., & Mitra, M. (2017). Global issue developed country bias: The Paris climate conference as covered by daily print news organizations in 13 nations. Climatic Change, 143(3-4), 281-296. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-2004-2
  • Hornsey, M. J., Harris, E. A., Bain, P. G., & Fielding, K. S. (2016). Meta-analyses of the determinants and outcomes of belief in climate change. Nature Climate Change, 6(6), 622-626. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2943
  • Hugé, J., Waas, T., Dahdouh-Guebas, F., Koedam, N., & Block, T. (2012). A discourse-analytical perspective on sustainability assessment: Interpreting sustainable development in practice. Sustainability Science, 8(2), 187-198. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0184-2
  • Kuan, D., Mohd Hasan, N. A., Mohd Zawawi, J. W., & Abdullah, Z. (2021). Framing theory application in public relations: The lack of dynamic framing analysis in competitive context. Media Watch, 12(2), 333-351. https://doi.org/10.15655/mw/2021/v12i2/160155
  • López-Rabadán, P. (2021). Framing studies evolution in the social media era. Digital advancement and reorientation of the research agenda. Social Sciences, 11(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11010009
  • Mfarrej, M. F. B. (2019). Climate change patterns in the UAE: A qualitative research and review. Nature, Environment, and Pollution Technology, 18(1), 261-268.
  • Neira, M., Erguler, K., Ahmady-Birgani, H., Al-Hmoud, N. D., Fears, R., Gogos, C., Hobhahn, N., Koliou, M., Kostrikis, L. G., Lelieveld, J., Majeed, A., Paz, S., Rudich, Y., Saad-Hussein, A., Shaheen, M., Tobias, A., & Christophides, G. (2023). Climate change and human health in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East: Literature review, research priorities and policy suggestions. Environmental Research, 216, 114537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114537
  • Ness, D. (2022). Towards sufficiency and solidarity: COP27 implications for construction and property. Buildings and Cities, 3(1), 912-919. https://doi.org/10.5334/bc.268
  • Nisbet, M. C. (2009). Communicating climate change: Why frames matter for public engagement. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 51(2), 12-23. https://doi.org/10.3200/envt.51.2.12-23
  • O’Neill, S. (2019). More than meets the eye: A longitudinal analysis of climate change imagery in the print media. Climatic Change, 163(1), 9-26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02504-8
  • Okoliko, D. A., & de Wit, M. P. (2020). Media (ted) climate change in Africa and public engagement: A systematic review of relevant literature. African Journalism Studies, 41(1), 65-83. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743670.2020.1770114
  • Oschatz, C., Maurer, M., & Haßler, J. (2019). Learning from the news about the consequences of climate change: An amendment of the cognitive mediation model. Journal of Science Communication, 18(2), A07. https://doi.org/10.22323/2.18020207
  • Painter, J., Ettinger, J., Doutreix, M.-N., Strauß, N., Wonneberger, A., & Walton, P. (2021). Is it climate change? Coverage by online news sites of the 2019 European summer heatwaves in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. Climatic Change, 169, 4. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03222-w
  • Painter, J., Kristiansen, S., & Schäfer, M. S. (2018). How ‘digital-born’ media cover climate change in comparison to legacy media: A case study of COP21 summit in Paris. Global Environmental Change, 48, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2017.11.003
  • Pearce, W., Niederer, S., Ozkula, S. M., & Querubín, N. S. (2018). The social media life of climate change: Platforms, publics, and future imaginaries. Climate Change, 10(2), e569. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.569
  • Ramanathan, R., & Hoon, T. B. (2015). Application of critical discourse analysis in media discourse studies. 3L: Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies, 21(3).
  • Rita, P., António, N., & Patrícia Afonso, A. (2023). Social media discourse and voting decisions influence: Sentiment analysis in tweets during an electoral period. Social Network Analysis and Mining, 13, 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13278-023-01048-1
  • Rochyadi-Reetz, M., & Wolling, J. (2022). Between impact, politics, and action: Frames of climate change in Indonesian print and online media. Environmental Communication, 16(7), 942-959. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2022.2134170
  • Schäfer, M. S., & Painter, J. (2020). Climate journalism in a changing media ecosystem: Assessing the production of climate change-related news around the world. Climate Change, 12(1), e675. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.675
  • Schmidt, A., Ivanova, A., & Schäfer, M. S. (2013). Media attention for climate change around the world: A comparative analysis of newspaper coverage in 27 countries. Global Environmental Change, 23(5), 1233-1248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.07.020
  • Shehata, A., & Hopmann, D. N. (2012). Framing climate change. Journalism Studies, 13(2), 175-192. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670x.2011.646396
  • Sikora, A. (2020). European green deal–Legal and financial challenges of the climate change. ERA-Forum, 21(4), 681-697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-020-00637-3
  • Sill, T. E., Ayala, J. R., Rolf, J., Smith, S., & Dye, S. (2023). How climate literacy and public opinion are the driving forces behind climate-based policy: A student perspective on COP27. ACS Omega, 8(5), 4430-4435. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.2c07674
  • Simcock, N., MacGregor, S., Catney, P., Dobson, A., Ormerod, M., Robinson, Z., Ross, S., Royston, S., & Marie Hall, S. (2014). Factors influencing perceptions of domestic energy information: Content, source and process. Energy Policy, 65, 455-464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.038
  • Wozniak, A., Lück, J., & Wessler, H. (2014). Frames, stories, and images: The advantages of a multimodal approach in comparative media content research on climate change. Environmental Communication, 9(4), 469-490. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2014.981559
  • Wyns, A. (2023). COP27 establishes loss and damage fund to respond to human cost of climate change. The Lancet Planetary Health, 7(1), e21-e22. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00331-x
  • Zielinski, C., Atwoli, L., Erhabor, G. E., Gbakima, A. A., Haileamlak, A., Kayembe Ntumba, J.-M., Kigera, J., Laybourn-Langton, L., Mash, B., Muhia, J., Mulaudzi, F. M., Ofori-Adjei, D., Okonofua, F., Rashidian, A., El-Adawy, M., Sidibe, S., Snouber, A., Tumwine, J., Yassien, M. S., Yonga, P., & Zkhama, L. (2022). COP27 climate change conference: Urgent action needed for Africa and the World. Acta Paediatrica, 111(12), 2259-2261. https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.16552
  • Zummo, L., Gargroetzi, E., & Garcia, A. (2020). Youth voice on climate change: Using factor analysis to understand the intersection of science, politics, and emotion. Environmental Education Research, 26(8), 1207-1226. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2020.1771288