Warm Words II: How the climate story is evolving and the lessons we can learn for encouraging public action

Article

This report maps the public discourse of climate change in the UK, especially highlighting what has changed since the work we conducted in 2006. This meant careful mapping of the dominant frames and discourses evidenced in popular print, television, radio and online national media coverage of climate change (for example, newspaper articles/columns, government publicity, influential blogs, material from non-governmental organisations [NGOs]).

The overall objectives of this project were:

1. To map the public discourse of climate change in the UK, especially highlighting what has changed since the work we conducted in 2006. This meant careful mapping of the dominant frames and discourses evidenced in popular print, television, radio and online national media coverage of climate change (for example, newspaper articles/columns, government publicity, influential blogs, material from non-governmental organisations [NGOs]).

2. To look at what characterises climate change discourse at the local level - how local press, local authorities and groups engaged in climate-related activities on the ground construct and talk about the issues and their own actions.

3. To compare these sources and discourses, and suggest implications for national and local communications and activities for all those seeking to change public behaviour on climate change.

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