scholarly journals Coalitions and counter-coalitions in online contestation: An analysis of the German and British climate change debate

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 2671-2690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silke Adam ◽  
Thomas Häussler ◽  
Hannah Schmid-Petri ◽  
Ueli Reber
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Online Strategy ◽  
Dominant Coalition ◽  
Conservative Media ◽  
The Web ◽  
Do So

We seek to understand the role of the Internet in policy monopolies characterized by a dominant coalition in traditional political venues. In these settings, we identify coalitions and counter-coalitions on the Web and ask how these coalitions differ resource-wise and where these differences come from. To do so, we combine link tracing and quantitative content analysis in the field of climate change in Germany and the United Kingdom. Our results show that online contestation is indeed structured by competing coalitions of climate advocates and skeptics. Moreover, the counter-coalitions of climate skeptics turn out to be the true winners of online communication: they have not only incorporated conservative media as their allies, but also managed to make themselves more visible than climate advocates. This visibility stems from their own link setting activity, which makes climate advocates’ passive online strategy of just ignoring the skeptical camp ineffective.

scholarly journals Climate governance in an international system under conservative hegemony: the role of major powers

2012 ◽  
Vol 55 (spe) ◽  
pp. 9-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eduardo Viola ◽  
Matías Franchini ◽  
Thaís Lemos Ribeiro
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
International System ◽  
Exploratory Research ◽  
Climate Governance ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
Common Character ◽  
Do So

In the last five years, climate change has been established as a central civilizational driver of our time. As a result of this development, the most diversified social processes - as well as the fields of science which study them - have had their dynamics altered. In International Relations, this double challenge could be explained as follows: 1) in empirical terms, climate change imposes a deepening of cooperation levels on the international community, considering the global common character of the atmosphere; and 2) to International Relations as a discipline, climate change demands from the scientific community a conceptual review of the categories designed to approach the development of global climate governance. The goal of this article is to discuss in both conceptual and empirical terms the structure of global climate change governance, through an exploratory research, aiming at identifying the key elements that allow understanding its dynamics. To do so, we rely on the concept of climate powers. This discussion is grounded in the following framework: we now live in an international system under conservative hegemony that is unable to properly respond to the problems of interdependence, among which - and mainly -, the climate issue.

scholarly journals The Dynamics of Issue Attention in Online Communication on Climate Change

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ines Lörcher ◽  
Irene Neverla
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
The Public ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Ipcc Report ◽  
Automated Coding ◽  
Issue Attention ◽  
Reader Comments ◽  
Shed Light

Issues and their sub-topics in the public agenda follow certain dynamics of attention. This has been studied for “offline” media, but barely for online communication. Furthermore, the enormous spectrum of online communication has not been taken into account. This study investigates whether specific dynamics of attention on issues and sub-topics can be found in different online public arenas. We expect to identify differences across various arenas as a result of their specific stakeholders and constellations of stakeholders, as well as different trigger events. To examine these assumptions, we shed light on the online climate change discourse in Germany by undertaking a quantitative content analysis via manual and automated coding methods of journalistic articles and their reader comments, scientific expert blogs, discussion forums and social media at the time of the release of the 5th IPCC report and COP19, both in 2013 (n = 14.582). Our results show online public <em>arena-specific dynamics</em> of issue attention and sub-topics. In journalistic media, we find more continuous issue attention, compared to a public arena where everyone can communicate. Furthermore, we find <em>event-specific dynamics</em> of issue attention and sub-topics: COP19 received intensive and continuous attention and triggered more variation in the sub-topics than the release of the IPCC report.

Canadian Federalism and the Political Economy of Energy and the Environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-3
Author(s):  
James Meadowcroft
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Regional Energy ◽  
Canadian Federalism ◽  
Political Economies ◽  
Energy Environment ◽  
Energy And Climate Policy ◽  
Do So

These two books draw attention to the role of Canada's oil-producing provinces—“petro-provinces” for Angela Carter and “carbon provinces” for Douglas Macdonald—in the politics of energy, environment and climate change, but they do so in very different ways. Carter's volume examines the erosion of environmental protections in the oil-rich provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador, while Macdonald's focuses on the way interest-based conflicts rooted in regional energy political economies have driven federal/provincial dynamics around energy and climate policy. Both books are well written (not always a given in academic publishing), and they should interest anyone concerned with the politics of energy, environment and climate change in Canada.

scholarly journals Avoiding misinterpretation of climate change projections of fish catches

2019 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1390-1392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Barange
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Productive Capacity ◽  
Improve Performance ◽  
Climate Change Projections ◽  
Upper Limit ◽  
The Future ◽  
Fisheries Sustainability ◽  
Do So

Abstract It is common to assume that climate change impacts on future fish catches, relative to current levels of catch, are directly proportional to changes in the capacity of the ocean to produce fish. However, this would only be the case if production was optimized, which is not the case, and continues to do so in the future, which we do not know. It is more appropriate to see changes in the ocean’s productive capacity as providing an upper limit to future fish catches, but whether these catches are an increase or a decrease from present catch levels depends on management decisions now and in the future, rather than on the ocean’s productive capacity alone. Disregarding the role of management in driving current and future catches is not only incorrect but it also removes any encouragement for management agencies to improve performance. It is concluded that climate change provides one of the most powerful arguments to improve fisheries—and environmental—management, and thus fisheries sustainability globally.

scholarly journals Are citizen juries and assemblies on climate change driving democratic climate policymaking? An exploration of two case studies in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Wells ◽  
Candice Howarth ◽  
Lina I. Brand-Correa
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Policy ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Elected Representatives ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In light of increasing pressure to deliver climate action targets, and the growing role of citizens in raising the importance of the issue, deliberative democratic processes (e.g. Citizen Juries and Citizen Assemblies) on climate change are increasingly being used to provide a voice to citizens in climate change decision-making. Through a comparative case study of two processes that ran in the UK in 2019 (the Leeds Climate Change Citizens’ Jury and the Oxford Citizens’ Assembly on Climate Change), this paper investigates how far Citizen Assemblies and Juries on climate change are increasing citizen engagement on climate change and creating more citizen-centred climate policy-making. Interviews were conducted with policy-makers, councillors, professional facilitators and others involved in running these processes to assess motivations for conducting these, their structure and the impact and influence they had. The findings suggest the impact of these processes is not uniform: they have an indirect impact on policymaking by creating momentum around climate action and supporting the introduction of pre-planned or pre-existing policies rather than a direct impact by being truly being citizen-centred policymaking processes or conducive to new climate policy. We conclude with reflections on how these processes give elected representatives a public mandate on climate change, that they help to identify more nuanced and in-depth public opinions in a fair and informed way, yet it can be challenging to embed citizen juries and assemblies in wider democratic processes.

scholarly journals How Good is the Science That Informs Government Policy? A Lesson From the U.K.’s Response to 2020 CoV-2 Outbreak

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Cooper ◽  
Neofytos Dimitriou ◽  
Ognjen Arandjelovíc
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Scientific Advice ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Government

AbstractIn an era when public faith in politicians is dwindling, yet trust in scientists remains relatively high, governments are increasingly emphasizing the role of science based policy-making in response to challenges such as climate change and global pandemics. In this paper we question the quality of some scientific advice given to governments and the robustness and transparency of the entire framework which envelopes such advice, all of which raise serious ethical concerns. In particular we focus on the so-called Imperial Model which heavily influenced the government of the United Kingdom in devising its response to the COVID-19 crisis. We focus on and highlight several fundamental methodological flaws of the model, raise concerns as to the robustness of the system which permitted these to remain unchallenged, and discuss the relevant ethical consequences.

Contextualizing “Quality” US Television Programs for the United Kingdom

2019 ◽  
pp. 239-256
Author(s):  
Paul Rixon
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Television Programs ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Quality Programs ◽  
Online Strategy ◽  
Cultural Intermediaries ◽  
British Culture

American programs have been a significant part of British television culture since the 1950s. Helping their mediation into British culture have been press critics who, in the past, have often been dismissive of such programs. However, as new forms of quality American programs have appeared, and online media have weakened the role of professional cultural intermediaries, a more supportive discourse has appeared. This chapter explores how contemporary American quality programs are being mediated into UK public debate. It will look at the website of one of the most important national UK newspapers, the Guardian, which has developed its online coverage of TV, often in ways more akin to fan sites, while encouraging public participation. The chapter will reflect on how the Guardian’s online strategy has served a niche UK readership interested in American programs, and how it has helped to reinforce and consecrate this group’s cultural dispositions in relation to US television.

scholarly journals Narratives and Pathways towards an Ecological Civilization in Contemporary China

2018 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
pp. 1175-1196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Geall ◽  
Adrian Ely
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The United States ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Ecological Civilization ◽  
Political Narratives ◽  
Policy Narratives ◽  
The Government ◽  
Do So

AbstractSince the United States committed to withdraw from the UN Paris Agreement on climate change, international observers have increasingly asked if China can take the lead instead to raise global ambition in the context of a world leadership vacuum. Given the country's increasing economic and strategic focus on sustainable and low-carbon innovation, China might seem well placed to do so. However, much depends on the direction of governance and reform within China regarding the environment. To better understand how the government is seeking to make progress in these areas, this article explores key political narratives that have underpinned China's policies around sustainable development (kechixu fazhan) and innovation (chuangxin) within the context of broader narratives of reform. Drawing on theoretical insights from work that investigates the role of power in shaping narratives, knowledge and action around specific pathways to sustainability, this article explores the ways in which dominant policy narratives in China might drive particular forms of innovation for sustainability and potentially occlude or constrain others. In particular, we look at ecological civilization (shengtai wenming) as a slogan that has gradually evolved to become an official narrative and is likely to influence pathways to sustainability over the coming years.

scholarly journals Adapting as usual: integrative and segregative institutions shaping adaptation to climate change in local public administrations

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 557-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTEO ROGGERO ◽  
ANDREAS THIEL
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Transaction Costs ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Transaction Costs Economics ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way

AbstractLocal administrations play a key role in delivering adaptation to climate change. To do so, they need to address collective action. Based on transaction costs economics, this paper explores the role of so-called integrative and segregative institutions in the way local administrations adapt – whether their different functional branches respond to climate change collectively rather than independently. Through a comparative analysis of 19 climate-sensitive local administrations in Germany, the paper shows that variation in the way local administrations structure their internal coordination determines the way they approach climate adaptation. Under integrative institutions, local administrations adjust prior coordination structures to accommodate adaptation. Under segregative institutions, administrations move towards integrative institutions in order to adapt, provided they already ‘feel’ climate change.

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