Parallel routes from Copenhagen to Paris: climate discourse in climate sceptic and climate activist blogs

ABSTRACT

The Copenhagen climate summit in 2009 was a watershed moment in the international climate change discourse, reinforcing controversy and polarization between climate sceptics and climate activists. Simultaneously, the blogosphere, known as a place for polarized mobilization, became a proliferating forum for both camps. Building on Dryzek’s and Carvalho’s conceptualization of environmental discourse, this paper analyses how ideological polarization is grounded in climate sceptics’ and climate activists’ blogs between COP15 and COP21. We investigated ten climate sceptic and climate activist blogs accessible in the UK. Qualitative-quantitative analysis of 357 blog posts revealed contrasting ontological and epistemological worlds in the climate change controversy. Four storylines were identified in the climate sceptical discourse – ‘hoax’, ‘no scientific evidence’, ‘climate sceptical science’, and ‘injustice’ – and five storylines in the climate activist discourse – ‘action’, ‘social justice’, ‘disaster strikes’, ‘potential catastrophe’, and ‘opportunity’. Implications for policy, practice and future research are provided.

KEYWORDS:

• climate change
• climate discourse
• blogosphere
• climate scepticism
• UNFCCC
• Conferences of the Parties

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Dutch Research Council: [Grant Number 406.17.527].

Notes on contributors

C. W. van Eck

C.W. van Eck is an Assistant Professor at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focuses on climate change communication. In particular, she is interested in the role of online media in climate change polarization.

P. H. Feindt

P. H. Feindt is Professor of Agricultural and Food Policy at the Albrecht Daniel Thaer Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His research addresses a broad range of questions in agricultural and food policy, in particular links to environmental policy, sustainability transitions, and the resilience of farming systems.