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

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of number of blogs posts per blog.

Climate sceptical blogs	N
Global Climate Scam	32
WattsUpWithThat	191
climate-skeptic	5
Dr Roy Spencer	5
Bishop Hill	20
Subtotal	253
Climate activist blogs	N
WWF UK	20
Greenpeace UK	25
Friends of the Earth UK	36
Climate Action Network	17
Oxfam UK	6
Subtotal	104
Total	357

Table 2. Storylines in climate sceptic blogs.

Climate sceptical storylines	Basic entities recognized	Assumptions about natural relationships	Agents and their motives	Metaphors and rhetorical devices	Normative judgments
Hoax	Conspiracy Legitimacy and illegitimacy	ACC does not exist	Villains: scientists, politicians, and media supporting ACC theory Heroes: politicians, media, and climate sceptics rejecting ACC theory	Science is misleading No support for climate action Climategate Climate mainstream spreads alarmism and hysteria Climate change is a religion, imagination, fairy tale, joke Climate change is not dangerous COPs are not well organized and a failure	No explicit normative judgments COPs lack legitimacy (implicit)
No scientific evidence	Science as business Mainstream science	No link between CO2 and global warming Global warming is not human-caused Weather is not climate Doubts about sea level rise, glacier melting rates, and ice cap sizes	Villains and ignorant: scientists, supporting ACC theory	Models are unreliable Mainstream science is not sound There is no scientific consensus IPCC reports are flawed	Science needs to be revised
Climate sceptical science	Scientific evidence that supports climate scepticism	Natural variability Global warming pause Global cooling Other factors than CO2 affect changes in the climate Recovering sea ice Species populations	Heroes: scientists rejecting ACC theory	Climate sceptical science is sound Use of scientific jargon Frequent references to academic credentials	No explicit normative judgments Academic dissidents deserve to be heard (implicit)
Injustice	Unethical environmental campaigns and protests Unethical costly climate change policies	No explicit assumptions about natural relationships	Victims: children, general public, developed countries, and developing countries Villains: climate activists and politicians	Fear-mongering and violence Unethical and immoral	No explicit normative judgments Climate campaigns and policies are immoral (implicit)

Storylines ordered by dominance.

Table 3. Storylines in climate activist blogs.

Climate activist storylines	Basic entities recognized	Assumptions about natural relationships	Agents and their motives	Metaphors and rhetorical devices	Normative judgments
Action	Negotiation, legislation, and regulation Campaigns and demonstrations	CO2 emissions cause climate change Climate change impacts	Heroes: general public, climate activists, businesses, scientists, politicians, and nation states that are acting upon climate change Villains: businesses, politicians, and nation states that are not acting upon climate change	FAB (fair, ambitious, and binding agreement) Political manoeuvres Empty promises Effective negotiation management crucial There is a scientific consensus Effective protests and campaigns Support for climate action Frequent use of ‘we’	We need climate action We need a successor treaty to the Kyoto Protocol We need a fair, ambitious, and binding agreement Global temperature should not rise more than 2 degrees Global temperature should not rise more than 1.5 degrees We need commitments on finance We need political commitment and leadership We need to work together
Social justice	Complex socio-ecological relationships Power relations	Climate change is human-caused Climate change affects all Climate change affects the most vulnerable Local and regional level impact	Victims: nation states that are suffering the consequences of climate change, the general public, and climate activists Villains: businesses, politicians, and nation states that are not acting upon climate change	Ethically and morally right	We need climate justice Nature should be protected The ones impacted by climate change should not suffer more Those causing climate change should help those affected by climate change We need a loss and damage mechanism
Disaster strikes	State of the earth Crisis Adaptation	Typhoon Haiyan Increasing surface air temperature Extreme weather events Sea ice vanishes Oceans acidify Rainforests suffer dieback Declining species populations Moving vegetation zones Regional level impact	Victims: nation states that are suffering the consequences of climate change, general public Villains: businesses, politicians, and nation states that are not acting upon climate change	Climate change is already here Climate change is dangerous Urgency and irreversibility Effective time management is crucial	We need to act upon climate change now
Potential catastrophe	Future impacts of climate change Looming crisis Mitigation	Increasing surface air temperature Extreme weather events Sea ice vanishes Oceans acidify Rainforests suffer dieback Declining species populations Moving vegetation zones	Victims: future generations	Climate change will become even more dangerous Urgency to create willpower There is hope, stay optimistic Effective time management is crucial	We need to act upon climate change urgently
Opportunity	Economy Clean technology International negotiations and agreements	CO2 emissions cause climate change	Businesses can benefit from acting upon climate change The victims of climate change can benefit from clean technologies Everyone who is a victim of climate change benefits from a good agreement	Economic benefits of adaptation and mitigation There is hope	We need to invest in renewable energies in particular

Storylines ordered by dominance.