Rationale

The specific nature of climate change impacts will vary between countries, however accelerating sea live rise and weather extremes like hurricanes, torrential rains, floods and droughts, that are expected to increase in terms of frequency and severity in many regions due to climate change, will force people and communities, mainly but not exclusively, from develloping countries, to migrate and move within their own, neighbouring or other countries.

Yet, whilst climate change has gained news coverage in the UK, it is still largely seen as an environmental or political issue. The UK media attention on the social aspects of climate change, such as migration, has remained comparatively marginal. As media and climate change policy comprise a dynamic communication nexus, in which both sides have high stakes, it is important to investigate why the media’s coverage of social impacts of climate change remains as such.

Also, as UK is a popular destination country for migrants from around the world and with the UK  media focusing on the threats that immigrants and refugees pose to members of host societies (‘xenophobia’ frame) it is important to understand how climate induced migration is potentially being represented.

Analysis of media discourse on climate change induced displacement can help to show how public views are constructed and reflected. It will also assist capacity building through e-learning of journalists, NGOs and policy-makers, key intermediaries in the mediation of climate change induced migration, to enhance social support for policy actions, such as incorporating migration into climate change adaptation strategies in a socially just way.

The project will incorporate research from climate change communication, visual communication, media theory, digital culture, environmental behaviour and e-learning .

The sequence of the research consists of four phases:

1. First identify the policy, institutional and definitional factors that may impede meaningful discourse formulation and media coverage of the issue.
2. Second, perform critical discourse analysis (image & text) and frame analysis of the representations of climate change induced migration in a cross-section of online news media in the UK that includes quality, mid range and tabloid news.
3. Third, using these findings, then move on to examine how UK humanitarian and environmental NGOs may utilise and challenge frames identified by online news media coverage of climate migration.
4. Finally, based on the understanding of the representational practices that formulate climate migration mediated discourse, build capacity of journalists, NGOs and policy-makers to best use climate justice approach and respond effectively to the challenges presented by the climate change induced displacement through the development of e-learning tools that draw upon and communicate the findings of the research.