Chair: Ankita Pandey
Speaker: Dr Waqas Ejaz (Oxford)
Last year, 2023, went down as the hottest ever recorded as also one with an alarming increase in the frequency and severity of a wide range of climate change induced extreme weather events. This gives us a stark warning of climate change impacts we can expect in the future. Scientists have urged world governments to urgently make use of one last window of opportunity to shift course. However, considering the scale of this challenge, the responsibility extends to all key stakeholders, including the news media. A substantial body of empirical evidence has identified that news media are crucial in shaping policy agendas, fostering public discourse, and motivating individuals to take pro-environmental actions. Therefore, drawing from data from the UK, USA, France, Germany, Japan, Brazil, India, and Pakistan, collected through an online survey in 2023, this study provides an in-depth understanding of climate news consumption habits along with public opinion on the health impacts of climate change, public support for and coverage of direct-action protests, and climate justice.
Dr Waqas Ejaz is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. His research interests include studying comparative journalism practices, climate change communication, and the use and effects of digital media
