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Who speaks for climate change in China? Evidence from Weibo

Author

Listed:
  • John Chung-En Liu

    (Occidental College)

  • Bo Zhao

    (Oregon State University)

Abstract

Social media provides a new and expanding forum to discuss climate change. Existing research in this area has focused mainly on Twitter and discussions in the United States, while online discussion of climate change in China has been largely unexamined. To fill this gap, we analyzed discussion about climate change on China’s premiere microblogging website, Weibo, over a two month period surrounding the Paris Climate Summit. The results show that institutional users-state media and international actors-dominate the discussion, while Chinese NGOs and public intellectuals are mostly absent from the scene. Discussion on climate change is concentrated in major urban areas, especially in Beijing. A significant proportion of Weibo posts aim to raise climate change awareness; few users discuss topics such as climate science, climate change’s actual impacts on China, or China’s low-carbon policy measures. Climate change appears as a global threat that has little connection to China's national context.

Suggested Citation

  • John Chung-En Liu & Bo Zhao, 2017. "Who speaks for climate change in China? Evidence from Weibo," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 413-422, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:climat:v:140:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10584-016-1883-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10584-016-1883-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lorien Jasny & Joseph Waggle & Dana R. Fisher, 2015. "An empirical examination of echo chambers in US climate policy networks," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(8), pages 782-786, August.
    2. Saffron O’Neill & Hywel T. P. Williams & Tim Kurz & Bouke Wiersma & Maxwell Boykoff, 2015. "Dominant frames in legacy and social media coverage of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 380-385, April.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yixi Yang & Mark C. J. Stoddart, 2021. "Public Engagement in Climate Communication on China’s Weibo: Network Structure and Information Flows," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 146-158.
    3. Becken, Susanne & Stantic, Bela & Chen, Jinyan & Connolly, Rod M., 2022. "Twitter conversations reveal issue salience of aviation in the broader context of climate change," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    4. Shambhu Sajith & RS Aswani & Mohammad Younus Bhat & Anil Kumar & Tarun Dhingra, 2023. "Can offshore wind energy lead to a sustainable and secure South China Sea?," Energy & Environment, , vol. 34(7), pages 2858-2875, November.
    5. Shreya Dubey & Marijn H. C. Meijers & Eline S. Smit & Edith G. Smit, 2024. "Beyond climate change? Environmental discourse on the planetary boundaries in Twitter networks," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 177(5), pages 1-23, May.
    6. Siqing Shan & Xijie Ju & Yigang Wei & Xin Wen, 2022. "Concerned or Apathetic? Using Social Media Platform (Twitter) to Gauge the Public Awareness about Wildlife Conservation: A Case Study of the Illegal Rhino Trade," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Muhammad Ashraf Fauzi, 2023. "Social media in disaster management: review of the literature and future trends through bibliometric analysis," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 118(2), pages 953-975, September.
    8. Wei, Yigang & Gong, Ping & Zhang, Jianhong & Wang, Li, 2021. "Exploring public opinions on climate change policy in "Big Data Era"—A case study of the European Union Emission Trading System (EU-ETS) based on Twitter," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).

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