Down2Earth

The annual UN climate summits are public events under intense media scrutiny. We investigate how the German population received information about the climate summits in Paris (2015), Katowice (2018), Madrid (2019), Glasgow (2021) and Dubai (2023), how media coverage was perceived and how this perception is related to knowledge about and attitudes towards climate policy.

In the first phase of the project (2015-2017), we used a three-wave quantitative online panel survey to investigate whether changes in people's attitudes, knowledge and media use on climate policy could be identified in the context of the climate summit, and how these changes could be explained. We ensured the survey was representative in terms of key demographic characteristics. The questionnaire is available here. In addition, we used a combination of digital media diaries and interviews in focus groups  to qualitatively explore media appropriation of the topic of climate policy in the city (Hamburg) versus the countryside (Otterndorf/Lower Saxony).

In the second project stage (2018-2020), we repeated the quantitative online survey on the 2018 and 2019 climate summits to measure possible long-term changes and analyze differences in the reception of the three climate summits.

In the third project stage (2021-2024), we repeated the online survey in 2021 and 2023, to measure further changes. In addition, an attempt was made to conduct another panel survey in 2021 with the participants from 2015, in order to be able to reconstruct changes at the individual level.

Project management: Michael Brüggemann

Collaboration Phase 1: Fenja De Silva-Schmidt and Imke Hoppe (Universität Hamburg; media diary/focus groups); Josephine Schmitt (University of Cologne) and Dorothee Arlt (University of Bern; standardised survey); Coordination: Fenja De Silva-Schmidt

Collaboration Phase 2: Daniela Mahl, Lars Guenther, Fenja De Silva-Schmidt (coordination) (all Universität Hamburg)

Collaboration Phase 3: Anne Reif (Technische Universität Braunschweig/Universität Hamburg), Lars Guenter (Universität Hamburg until September 2023)

Publikations:

• Reif, A., Guenther, L., Tschötschel, R., & Brüggemann, M. (2024). Rückschlag für den Klimaschutz: Wandel der Einstellungen und Kommunikation zu Klimawandel und Klimapolitik von 2015 bis 2023. Media Perspektiven, 2024(14), 1-12.
• Guenther, L., Reif, A., De Silva-Schmidt, F., & Brüggemann, M. (2022). Klimawandel und Klimapolitik bleiben trotz COVID-19-Pandemie etablierte Themen: Medienrezeption während der UN-Klimagipfel 2015, 2018, 2019 und 2021. Media Perspektiven, 2022(4), 192-202.
• De Silva-Schmidt, F., Brüggemann, M., Hoppe, I., & Arlt, D. (2022). Learning about climate politics during COP 21: Explaining a diminishing knowledge gap. Public Understanding of Science, 31(5), 617-633. https://doi.org/10.1177/09636625211068635
• Guenther L., Mahl D., De Silva-Schmidt F., Brüggemann M. (2020). Klimawandel und Klimapolitik: vom Nischenthema auf die öffentliche Agenda: Ergebnisse von Befragungen zu den UN-Klimagipfeln 2015, 2018 und 2019. Media Perspektiven, 2020(5), 287-296.
• De Silva-Schmidt, F. & Brüggemann, M. (2019). Klimapolitik in den Medien – Das Publikum erwartet mehr. Befunde einer Befragung zu den UN-Klimagipfeln 2015 und 2018 (2019). Media Perspektiven 2019(3), 107-113.
  Arlt D., Hoppe I., Schmitt J. B., De Silva-Schmidt F., Brüggemann M. (2018). Climate engagement in a digital age: exploring the drivers of participation in climate discourse online in the context of COP21. Environmental Communication, 12(1), 84-98 10.1080/17524032.2017.1394892
• Brüggemann M., De Silva-Schmidt F., Hoppe I., Arlt D., Schmitt J. B. (2017). The appeasement effect of a United Nations climate summit on the German public: Nature Climate Change, 7(11), 783–787. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate3409