The representation of climate change politics in the
Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’
between 2008 and May 2018
Name: Laura Hilhorst Student number: 10995951
Study: Bachelor Future Planet Studies; major Human Geography Study year: 2017/2018
Course: Bachelor Thesis Project
Project: Representation of climate change politics in ‘De Volkskrant’
Supervisor: Patrick Weir (second reader: Aslan Zorlu) Date: June 18, 2018
Word count: 13,560
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Abstract
In this research the representation of climate change politics in the Dutch newspaper De
Volkskrant has been studied. Through scientific journalism, news media serve as a place
where public opinion on climate change is formed, which then influences the political agenda regarding climate change. A qualitative content analysis has been carried out to to find out if there is a pattern of climate change representations in the newspaper between January 2008 and May 2018. There is focused on predominant climate change politics representations, human actors, journalistic norms, and climate change representations. Change politics was predominantly represented as international CO2
mitigation strategies, giving preference to mitigation (undoing the effects) of rather than adaptation to climate change (providing assistance). Most predominant actors included (foreign) politics (primarily presidents and ministers), intergovernmental organizations (EU and UN), and environmental organizations (Greenpeace and Milieudefensie). Journalists reporting climate change politics in De Volkskrant mainly used the norm ‘novelty’; journalists prefer new stories over stories that have already been reported. Last, climate change was predominantly represented as a problem in general, journalists and politicians often used wording like ‘climate crisis’ and ‘saving the climate’. However, media representations of climate change also showed to be subject to the uncertainties and ontology of science itself.
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Table of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction 4
1.1 Introduction 4
1.2 Problem statement 5
Chapter 2. Theoretical Framework 6
2.1 (Popular) geopolitics of climate change 6
2.2 Journalistic norms 8
Chapter 3. Research design 10
3.1 Methodology 10 3.2 Operationalization 10 Conceptual framework 12 3.3 Research method 13 Chapter 4. Results 15 4.1 General results 15 4.2 Predominant representations 17 4.2.1 Focus 17 4.2.2 Type 22 4.2.3 Scale 22 4.3 Predominant actors 23 4.3.1 Politicians 23 4.3.2 Intergovernmental organizations 25 4.3.3 Environmental organizations 27
4.4 Predominant journalist norms 28
4.5 Predominant climate change representation 31
Chapter 5. Conclusion 34
5.1 Conclusion 34
5.2 Discussion & recommendations 36
Chapter 6. References 38
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Chapter 1
. Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Since around 1750, human activities including animal agriculture and fossil fuel use have led to increased greenhouse gas emissions (IPOC, 2017). Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane have the ability to retain much heat, and therefore increasing emissions cause average temperatures on Earth to rise (Schmidt et al., 2013). Anthropogenic climate change is a serious problem, as it alters climate conditions around the world, which then negatively affects the social world (Schmidt et al., 2013). The Netherlands is vulnerable to climate change for the reason that a quarter of the country lies below sea level and sixty percent of its population lives in this area (Kirton et al., 2013). The global mean sea level in 2100 is expected to be 0.5 to 1.4 meters higher compared to 1990 (Rahmstorf, 2007).
It is therefore commonly agreed that effective adaptation strategies are crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, so that the effects of climate change are mitigated (IPCC, 2015). As neither climate change nor its consequences are limited to certain countries, but rather take place on a global scale, international cooperation is needed to address the issue (IPCC, 2015). This is an example of ‘geopolitics’, which refers to the spatial dynamics of politics (Dalby, 2013). It concerns power relations, political dominance, and international relations (Dalby, 2013). The context in which interaction between politics and the environment has taken place has experienced major changes (Dalby, 2013). Because human activity is the main cause of current climate change, we need to recognize that humanity is part of nature, and therefore entangled with the environment and its changes (Dalby, 2013). It is this human-nature inseparability which causes Latour (2014) to state that the objectivity of media reporting climate change has been completely undermined by “the presence of humans in the phenomena to be described – and in the politics of tackling them” (p. 2).
Public awareness of climate change has primarily been created through mass media’s extensive coverage of climate change and related issues since the late 1980s (Weingart, Engels, & Pansegrau, 2000). News media - in particular newspapers - are seen as “central agents for raising awareness and disseminating information” (Schmidt et al., 2013, p. 1233). News media in this way serve as a place where public opinion on climate change is formed, which in turn influences political debate on the matter (Schmidt et al., 2013). Thus, politics on climate change also takes place outside of academic and policymaking discourse, also known as ‘popular geopolitics’ (Dittmer & Gray, 2010). News media play an important role in communicating climate change to the public, as it can downplay or exaggerate the perceived severity of the problem (Weingart et al., 2000).
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Although more and more scholars are focusing on popular media’s representations of climate change, most literature is dedicated to a comparative analysis based on several countries (see: Schmidt et al., 2013; Brossard, Shanahan, & McComas, 2004), or a case-study of the United States or United Kingdom (see: Carvalho & Burgess, 2005; Boykoff, 2007; Antilla, 2005). In addition, these studies focus on the representation of climate change in general or specific events perceived to be the result of climate change. This research, however, focuses on the representation of climate change politics in the Netherlands; so not just individual climate events or processes, but how these are entwined with politics is examined. One Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’ will be analysed to find out how the representation of climate change politics has changed in the past ten years. First, a literature based problem definition is set out, including the main research question. After this, several core concepts and related theories are discussed. Then, the research design, including a conceptual framework showing the relations between the studied concepts, is presented. This is followed by the results, in which the four sub-questions are answered. Finally, conclusions, discussions, and recommendations are made.
1.2 Problem Statement
As mentioned earlier, anthropogenic climate change poses a great environmental threat to both the human and natural world, and hence must be addressed (IPOC, 2017; Schmidt et al., 2013; Kirton et al., 2013). News media are influential in communicating this issue to the public. However, news media reporting climate change have been confronted by “accusations of exaggerating or downplaying risk and “bad” science” (Weingart et al., 2000, p. 261). Misrepresentations of scientific information along with the complex nature of climate change can cause ignorance among policy makers (Weingart et al., 2000). In order to find out if there is a pattern of climate change representations in the newspaper (which relates to certain geopolitical frames), knowledge about existing representations need to be acquired. Geopolitical frames are defined here as the ways in which newspapers highlight certain aspects of geopolitical issues; D'Angelo and & Kuypers (2010) refer to a frame as: “a manipulated channel for information dissemination” (p. 1). The following research question has been formulated: “How are the politics of climate change represented in Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’,
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Chapter 2
. Theoretical framework
2.1 (Popular) geopolitics of climate change
In the 1980s literature emerged that criticized geopolitical thinking, as it operated “with a ‘view from nowhere’, a seeing that refuses to see itself and the power relationships that make it possible” (Tuathail, 1999, p. 107). As a response, the concept of critical geopolitics was developed, in which existing structures of power and knowledge were placed in question (Tuathail, 1999). Central to critical geopolitical thinking it is the assumption that the way in which the world is represented and knowledge is produced has political implications (Dalby, 2013). Thus, unlike geopolitics, critical geopolitics aims to understand geography as imbued with power (Tuathail, 1999). Numerous scholars have looked into the alterations that climate change entails for the geopolitical field. For example, Clark (2014) argues that due to the crossing of thresholds in Earth systems (leading to climate change) a new kind of geopolitics should be in place; one that is equally concerned with the dynamics and changes of our earth and the more “conventional” political issues based on territories and nation state boundaries. This means that political agenda should not only focus on nation state border, but also the spatial-temporal “borders” at which one state of an Earth system changes into a different one (such as the increased global temperatures and resulting effects on the environment) (Clark, 2014). In addition, according to Dalby (2014) we need to rethink geopolitics in terms of human security. Security is not just about the predominance of military power, but also bout climate security and the necessary infrastructure adaptations to emergent events due to climate change. Although it is the elite in the developed countries that are the most powerful to change these political systems that sustain climate change, a more empowering and critical geopolitical thinking is needed to reveal the ways in which climate change is a local and social problem (Barnett, 2007).
Part of critical geopolitical thinking is the acknowledgment of geopolitics as something which happens outside of academic and policymaking discourses, rather than solely within them, through various forms of cultural and social practice(s) along with everyday interactions and seemingly banal activities. This has become known as ‘popular geopolitics’ (Dittmer & Gray, 2010; Dalby & Tuathail, 1998). In accordance with this thinking, Schmidt et al. (2013) argue that news media are one particularly important key to understanding the ‘interpretative system’ of contemporary societies, and therefore essential for influencing climate politics and society’s perception. It is in this way, and others like it, that geopolitical issues are experienced at the “ordinary” everyday level in society at large: (partly) through representations in the media. Furthermore, the public is not, as a general rule “knowledgeable” about science or geopolitics, and hence the discussion of the two together in the public sphere is particularly sensitive with regards
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to how they are represented. News media coverage could then be seen as “a social relationship between scientists, policy actors, and the public” (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2017, p. 1190). News media could also serve as a discursive sphere, which is a place where discussion and debate occurs on a particular issue (Schmidt et al., 2013). In this way media indicates the importance of a topic such as climate change for political figures (Schmidt et al., 2013). Also, ‘attention levels’ may be used as an indicator for the “impact” of newspapers: a greater number of articles means a greater (presumed) impact. Mass media has also been used as tool for politicians to introduce and promote their campaigns on reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Sampei & Aoyagi-Usui, 2009). Despite recent growth in importance of social media, news media - in particular newspapers - are seen as “central agents for raising awareness and disseminating information” (Schmidt et al., 2013, p. 1233).
One of the arguments made by popular geopolitics is found with the emergence of newspapers between the 17th and 18th Century, when the technology of print culture and mass literacy were unified (Dittmer, 2010). The public could in this way get a sense of the world around them. One may say the development of newspapers was a bad thing, as journalists could represent complicated issues according to journalistic norms, but on the other hand it ensures that the public gains knowledge about geopolitical issues (Dittmer, 2010). Authority figures have to consider how their actions will be represented in news media, as the public will perceive and act on it. In contrast to, for example, Hollywood films that show climate catastrophes (‘The Day after Tomorrow’ for example) – which can be analysed as one dimension of the popular geopolitics of climate change – newspapers have to be more nuanced and less “certain” with what they say, leading to ambiguity about the nature of the topic. This is one of the many dimensions of critical geopolitical thinking; recognizing newspapers as sources of popular geopolitical imaginations (Dittmer, 2010).
Much literature is dedicated to the role of news media in representing environmental issues, using critical geopolitical ideas. However, the focus on climate change specifically has been established only since the 1990s (Anderson, 2009). Recent years have shown a rise in scientific interest into the relationship between news media, climate change, and politics (Anderson, 2009). Schmidt, Ivanova, and Schäfer (2013) for example investigated media attention to climate change around the world. Analysing newspapers’ coverage of 27 countries, they found that media coverage increased for all countries between 1996 and 2010. However, attention levels differed greatly among counties;
Figure 1. Media attention levels in the Netherlands over time (Schmidt et al., 2013)
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the highest levels were found in most carbon dependent countries with obligations to the Kyoto Protocol (international agreement to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions). Media attention levels of the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant nearly quadrupled between 1996 and 2012 (figure 1) (Schmidt et al., 2013). In addition, they found that media attention fluctuates and peaks around specific events in all countries. Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui (2009) illustrate this by showing that the increased newspaper coverage on climate change in Japan in 2007 was related to several (international) events including: Japan experiencing the warmest winter on record, the release of the documentary ‘An
Inconvenient Truth’ by Al Gore, and the publication of new ‘Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change’ (IPCC) reports. These are several separate but linked popular geopolitical texts/events working together, with newspaper coverage acting as one amplifier in this. Another research (Boykoff, 2007), which studied news coverage of anthropogenic climate change in the US and UK between 2003 and 2006, also showed a great expansion of newspaper coverage on climate change in both countries.
2.2 Journalistic norms
News media have their own guidelines for deciding if and how a particular matter is covered (Weingart et al., 2000). Normally, scientific information is rather unappealing for news media coverage. However, an issue’s newsworthiness increases whenever certain events can be related to a scientific topic or if it means that it may harm human life; “if it bleeds, it leads”: according to this journalistic maxim the most sensationalist events should lead the agenda, as they generate more interest (Weingart et al., 2000). Thus, news media have to recognize climate change as a newsworthy topic, otherwise it will not be covered at all.
Having analysed literature on journalistic norms, the collection of norms proposed by Boykoff and Boykoff (2007) - used to analyse journalistic norms in climate change coverage in US mass-media – seemed most useful, as those norms were adopted by other scholars with regard to climate change representations (see for example: Evans, 2016). According to Boykoff & Boykoff (2007) there are five principle journalistic norms involved in media reporting climate change: personalization, dramatization, novelty, authority-order, and balance. Boykoff (2007) argues that especially ‘balanced’ reporting of journalists can be problematic in terms of transferring scientific knowledge to the public. So, as most knowledge about climate change reaches the public through science journalism, news media can raise awareness, awake misperception, or catastrophically both: create mass ignorance through widespread dissemination of incorrect information (Schmidt et al., 2013). The latter is the case in the US, as journalistic norms have caused the information on climate change – provided through news media – to be deficient; giving weight to those that deny the severity of the problem (Boykoff &
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Boykoff, 2007). Other factors – besides certain journalistic norms – could also play a part in representing climate change in the news media. According to Carvalho (2005), who studied the representation of climate change in the British newspapers, ideological standpoints (as a set of ideas or values) have great influences on what is seen as scientific news (and what is not) and whom may decide on this. He argues that political actors are the most influential in shaping climate change in the public sphere, but this is mediated by the ideological perception of the newspapers (Carvalho, 2005). For example, ‘The Guardian’ and ‘The Independent’ were found to focus on the risks and stimulate public concern about climate change, ‘The Times’ on the other hand tried to discredit the IPCC (Carvalho, 2005). This is why Carvalho (2005) claims that values and ideologies are fundamental for understanding the variations in news media’s representations of scientific knowledge on climate change, which can either stimulate or discourage political or individual action. This relates to the idea of hegemony – introduced by Antonio Gramsci – which suggest that institutions (including the media) frame boundaries of what is “possible” to think through representations (Dittmer, 2010).
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Chapter 3
. Research design
3.1 Methodology
This research uses a descriptive qualitative research strategy; as it describes the way in which climate change politics is represented in the newspapers. Qualitative research is characterized by an inductive approach, an interpretivist epistemological orientation, and a constructionist ontological orientation (Bryman, 2012). These approaches and philosophies will be adopted in this study. Inductive research means that the findings of a research will generate theory (Bryman, 2012). Although the objective of this approach is to develop new theory, many studies fail in doing so as their “theoretical significance is not entirely clear” (Bryman, 2012, p. 27). However, this research aims to develop new theory by building on existing literature and distinguishing itself by focusing on alternative aspects; especially through the focus on the representation of climate change
politics (as most literature studies climate change in general) and an in depth analysis of
one newspaper over ten years. Interpretivism assumes that knowledge about the social world can be obtained by studying the experiences of the individuals interacting in it (Bryman, 2012). So, “by placing people in their social contexts, there is greater opportunity to understand the perceptions they have of their own activities” (Kelliher, 2011, p. 46). The social world can therefore not be studied in the same way as the natural world, and thus needs a different research approach (Bryman, 2012). Constructivism implies that the social world is the subjective and dynamic outcome of interaction among social actors (Bryman, 2012). However, also the researchers’ own perception can be seen a social construction; as the researcher presents a specific version of the reality. Knowledge in this sense cannot be seen as definitive, and thus is indeterminate.
3.2 Operationalization
To answer the main question “How are the politics of climate change represented in Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, and how has this changed over the last ten years?” the following sub questions have been formulated:
● If certain predominant representations of climate change politics exist, what are they?
● Which human actors play(ed) significant roles in the geopolitics of climate change?
● Which journalistic norms are involved in the news media reporting the issue?
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There are several core concepts and theories of interest when answering these questions, including geopolitics, climate change, and journalistic norms (figure 2). In order to make these concepts operational, they must be translated into measurable variables by creating “an indicator or indicators that will stand for the concept” (Bryman, 2012, p. 164). In the appendix (chapter 7) an overview of the core concepts and related dimensions and indicators is presented.
The concept of geopolitics is for this research divided into two dimensions: climate change politics and critical geopolitics/popular politics, with climate change politics being part of geopolitics. This research defines “politics” as decision-making by political elites, administrators, and elected politicians; as here the ‘important’ decisions are being made with regard to climate change, and because of the limited time frame. The coverage of climate change politics in newspapers can be recognized in several ways; with politics in this study referring to decision-making by (local/regional) governments, politicians, and international organizations. Politics on climate change may take the form of decision-making on: CO2-emissions, renewable energy, infrastructure adaptations, food
production, water supply, or the environment/biodiversity. These indicators could also be used as codes; every newspaper article referring to climate change politics can be assigned to one of these indicators. In addition, these could be further specified by indicating whether it concerns adaptation or mitigation strategies, and if they are regional, national, or international orientated. With regard to politics there is looked for the following keywords: ‘politics’, ‘government’, ‘governing’, ‘policies’, ‘politically’, ‘regulation’, ‘political’, ‘legislation’, and ‘campaign’.
The dimension of the concept of climate change that is used in this study, is that of the representation of climate change. In this study media “representations” (newspaper articles) will be considered to be representations of climate change if they belong into one of the following categories:
• A man-caused environmental problem; • A threat to both humans and animals;
• A threat to the environment including certain ecosystems and landscapes; • A threat to society and its settlements and infrastructures;
• A threat to an entire territorial state or multiple states; • A change in global temperatures;
• A cause of extreme weather events
Representations of climate change belonging to one of these indicators will then be coded into one of the four categories: a threat to humans and their living environment; a threat to the environment and living species; a process which impacts climate conditions; or a serious problem (in general) which should be dealt with. These
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categories are in line with the ontology of the IPCC and other climate change organizations such as Greenpeace (Solomon et al., 2007). To differentiate these categories from other environmental problems, these categories will only count as a representation of climate change if the journalist specifically relates these categories to climate change (that is to say the journalist uses the term in the article).
The dimensions of the concept journalistic norms are taken to be: personalization, dramatization, novelty, authority-order, and balance. Each journalistic norm has its own indicator. Personalization for example can be recognized by news about certain catastrophes or achievements of individuals; highlighting personal concerns. The norm ‘dramatization’ involves news that overemphasize a disaster; “focus on drama rather than analysis” (Evans, 2016, p. 500). Novelty comprises newspaper articles that focus on certain aspects of an issue that make it unique or timely. The norm ‘authority-order’ can be recognized by news that rely chiefly on prominent figures (government spokespersons for example) as sources. Last, ‘balance’ includes newspaper articles that cover both sides of an issue with equal attention (Evans, 2016).
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3.3 Research method
To study the representation of climate change politics in the newspaper, a qualitative content analysis will be carried out. Content analysis is commonly used in popular geopolitics, especially in the study of newspapers (Dittmer, 2010). For example, Kim et al. (2007) studied US and Canadian newspaper coverage of Sudan’s conflict in Darfur, McFarlane and Hay (2003) discussed Australian newspaper coverage of the protests against the WTO in Seattle in 1999, and Rosie and Gorringe (2009) analysed 2009's G20 summit in London. Generally, content analysis is used in quantitative research. However, as Dittmer (2010) argues “quantification reduces the richness of the data”; by using a more descriptive research strategy more in-depth information can be gathered, resulting in more qualitative results. (p. 41). Content analysis “comprises a searching-out of underlying themes in the materials being analysed” (Bryman, 2012, p. 557). This study aims to identify the frequency by which a specific pattern of representations of climate change politics appears. Although research has shown that both television and daily newspapers are used as primary sources of information (Sampei & Aoyagi-Usui, 2009), this research will solely comprise newspaper analysis since older television broadcasts are more difficult to obtain than newspapers, and using newspapers only reduces the problem of inter-media comparison (as television broadcast analysis requires a different, visual research methodology such as those discussed by Gillian Rose). In addition, there is chosen to analyse the Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’, as this is one of the most read national quality newspapers (Hille & Bakker, 2013; Bakker, 2016). The newspaper
Figure 2. A simplified overview the concepts used.
Scientific information about climate change is gathered and used by politicians in the process of decision-making. However, as climate change often involves scientific uncertainty political decision-making is not always straightforward and does not always go easily. As political issues occur or new policies are formed regarding climate change, journalists use journalistic norms to report this. They have their own rules and norms for deciding which political issues are newsworthy and how they are represented in news media. Science journalism in turn influences the perception of the pubic on this matter: the way in which journalists cover a political issue on climate change in the media can (partially) shape the ideas of the people. Media coverage (and thus the perception of the public) of scientific knowledge on climate change and the resulting political decision-making processes indicate the importance of the topic for political figures; if for example suddenly much attention is paid to the positive impact of windmills on climate change, politicians will tend to pay more attention to the issue. Journalists also report climate change directly, and thereby influence climate change politics.
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De Volkskrant was founded in 1919, has a circulation of roughly 250,000, and focuses on
higher educated readers. The newspaper was originally centre-left politically oriented, but since the 1990s it has moved to right-wing politics. There will be made use of several online newspaper archives, searching for a variety terms. Due to the limited time resources of this study there is chosen to analyse articles from 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, and 2018. The population of this research will be defined as all newspaper articles that mention climate change politics. However, also articles that do not have climate change politics as the main focus will be included. Keywords synonymous to climate change will also be covered; such as ‘greenhouse effect’ and ‘global warming’, as those terms are often used to refer to climate change (O’Neill, 2013). With regard to politics there is searched for the following keywords: ‘politics’, ‘government’, ‘governing’, ‘policies’, ‘politically’, ‘regulation’, ‘political’, ‘legislation’, and ‘campaign’. Below is an example of a newspaper article in De Volkskrant that falls within the research population.
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Chapter 4
. Results
4.1 General results
Having analysed all newspaper articles on climate change politics in the selected years from 2008 and now, several general conclusions can be drawn. First of all, although Schmidt et al. (2013) found that the number of articles on climate change in De
Volkskrant nearly quadrupled between 1996 and 2012, this study suggests that the
number of articles on climate change politics between 2008 and 2018 in the same newspaper did not experience such significant increase (see figure 3). The number of items per year fluctuated roughly around 40, with the most articles (55 items) on climate change politics in the two first years (2008 and 2010).
Compared to the other years, 2014 showed the least coverage on climate politics, namely 27 articles. Partly responsible for this could be the occurrence of other (geopolitical) events which were given higher news values, such as the Ebola outbreak, the emergence of ISIS, and the annexation of Crimea by Russia. This points to the second finding, one which Schmidt et al. (2013) and Sampei and Aoyagi-Usui (2009) already discussed. Namely, that media attention fluctuates and peaks around specific events. This has also been observed in this study; more attention is paid to climate change politics by journalists at times when certain significant (international) events were happening, such as the publication of new IPCC reports, extreme weather due to climate change, or global political decision-making on climate change. However, as
Figure 4. Number of articles on climate change politics between January 2008 and May 2018 in De Volkskrant.
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Morton (2013) argued, climate change is not something we “experience” in event-based terms. There are individual extreme weather events, but it is almost impossible to point to an event experienced by an individual and ascribe it to climate change: it is the accumulation of many (thousands or millions) micro-events (Morton, 2013). This is why climate change is “difficult” to report as it is challenging to “see” climate change in news media coverage of individual events. Finally, the question that arises is whether climate change only becomes “(geo)political” beyond a certain threshold (such as deaths, destruction, governmental intervention, or lack of other news?). This is line with the argument made by Weingart et al. (2000), which stated that the newsworthiness of an issue increases whenever it can be linked with a scientific topic or if it may negatively impact human life.
Thirdly, in addition to the articles on political decision-making on climate change, several items were found in which journalists challenged the relationship between science and politics. These articles appeared in 2010 after multiple scientific claims of the IPCC turned out to be incorrect. This caused journalists to reconsider the role of science in political decision-making on climate change, ensuring them to be more sceptical to scientific claims and to place more emphasis on the uncertain nature of climate change. So, news media coverage could be seen as a social relationship between scientist, policy actors, and journalists (Boykoff & Boykoff, 2017). This will be discussed in more detail in the paragraph on the UN in section 4.3.2.
Last, the journalists that reported climate change politics were also considered, as to determine “who” is doing the representation. Although the representations are not produced by single actors (journalists) alone (their editors are also important), this study only focuses on the journalist in question since this is the only information available. Although many different journalists covered climate change politics between 2008 and now, certain journalist were more prominent than others. In addition, much articles referred to ‘Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau’ (ANP) (translated: General Dutch Press Agency) or ‘Associated Press’ (AP) as source, without referring to the journalist in question. AP is a newswire service from which freelance journalists enter their reports, which are then grouped. Although this ensures that there is no information on the journalist himself, this is not an issue, as any paper using reports from the AP is, by definition, accepting them as credible. Some articles did not mention the journalist in question, in this study these articles will be referred to as De Volkskrant.
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4.2 Predominant representationsThe newspaper articles that have been analysed in this study are classified according to three specifications regarding decision-making: the focus, type, and scale. Focus meaning whether the article in question gives prominence to decision-making on: CO2
-emissions, renewable energy, infrastructure adaptations, food production, water supply, the environment/biodiversity, or security. Type meaning if it concerns adaptation or mitigation strategies; there are certain types of climate change which are taken to be “possible to stop” and ones that can only be “mitigated” against. Last, scale refers to the geographical orientation of the decision-making, which could be regional, national, or international.
4.2.1 Focus
A clear trend has been observed in the focus of the articles analysed in this study. All years showed about the same distribution of reporting of the seven subjects mentioned above (see figure 4). In all selected years between 2007 and now, decision-making on CO2-emissions turned out to be the most reported; in each year about half of the articles
on climate change politics focused on CO2-emission reduction. The second most covered
subject was renewable energy; as will become clear most politicians support the energy transition as it is a relatively popular strategy. Throughout the years, no articles were found that focused on water supply regarding climate change politics. Climate change does affect water resources (Arnell, 1999), and linkages between climate change and water resources were made, but either no political agreements were established or little media attention was given to these agreements. Media reporting food production, infrastructure, security and the environment/biodiversity showed great variations over time, with no clear trend. The only thing that stood out was the attention that was given to food production issues in the first months of 2018, which will be discussed in further detail in the section ‘food production’.
Figure 5. Average number of articles per year on several climate change politics subjects between January 2008 and May 2018 in De Volkskrant.
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CO2-emissionsIn 2008 CO2-emissions was most focused on as attention was paid to the new climate
plans on which the European Commission agreed, which mainly focused on the CO2
reduction strategies. This was reported several times in the newspaper, along with the different views of Dutch and international politicians on the happening. Also, several articles focused on the disputed topic of ‘klimaatbossen’ (translated: ‘climate forests’), which are initiatives involving planting trees to offset CO2 emissions (mainly
implemented as a ‘sustainable’ business strategy). Some journalists argued they were useful, other criticized it by arguing every forest is a climate forest (Trommelen, 2008). Last, the EU also decided to implement an emission allowance system, which was seen as a step in the right direction by both Dutch politicians and journalists covering the issue (ANP, 2008).
The year 2010 was marked by the ‘failure’ of the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2009 (COP15), which should have laid the foundation for the successor of the Kyoto protocol (an international treaty on CO2-emission reduction from 1997).
Because of this, politicians reconsidered their efforts to combat climate change; for example, the European Commission tightened up its climate plan by lifting the CO2
reduction goal from twenty to thirty percent in 2020, compared to 1990 (ANP, 2010). The failure of COP15 also lead to a rather pessimistic attitude towards the conference of 2010; the head of the VN stated that the main purpose of the conference was to rebuild trust among states (ANP, 2010). In addition, it was argued that COP15 was proof that climate change cannot be left to governments alone (Keuning, 2010).
In 2012, Chinese airlines announced they did not agree with the new plans of the EU to levy taxes on the CO2 emissions of flights (ANP, 2012). Other states (including the
US) also strongly opposed the new plans, which made journalists to represent it as ‘the first threat of a climate-trade war’ (Persson, 2012). Not much later, the EU announced to be willing to drop the taxes in return for a good alternative (Persson, 2012). The annual UN conference on climate change of 2012 was rather negatively reported, partly due to the failure in 2009 and partly due to the destination that year: Qatar, a country that heavily depends on fossil fuels (Persson, 2012).
Although 2014 was characterized with the least items on climate change politics, different interesting articles were written. Several journalists criticized climate politics of the EU, arguing that stricter CO2 reduction policies do not work, and that politicians
should instead focus on improving (more efficient and inexpensive) measures to tackle climate change (Trommelen, 2014). Also, this year’s climate conference was held in New York, which was seen as a crucial opportunity to turn negotiations into agreements (ANP, 2014). In the Netherlands, a new climate coalition was formed, in which businesses,
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governments, and environmental organizations collaborated to combat climate change; represented as a valuable initiative.
In the end of 2016 Donald Trump was elected as president. Several journalists saw this as a great threat to climate policy, as in 2015 the Paris Agreement was established; the successor of the Kyoto protocol which the US and China did ratify this time (Van Raaij, 2016). In the Netherlands, the new ‘energy agenda’ was introduced, receiving both positive and negative comments from politicians and journalists; on the one hand the agenda advocated for CO2-tax (Anders, Vellinga, & Terlouw, 2016), and on
the other hand it was perceived to be unambitious (ANP, 2016).
In the first months of 2018, the concerns about the implications of Trump’s victory in 2016 for climate policy became reality, as Trump withdrawn America from the treaty and undid new environmental policies on car CO2-emissions (Vos, 2018; De
Volkskrant, 2018). In addition, in the Netherlands the municipal elections took place, in which the green left party ‘GroenLinks’ achieved a great victory, campaigning for regional climate plans (Herderscheê, 2018).
Renewable energy
In 2008 there was controversy about the use of biofuels to mitigate climate change. Some journalists used arguments of researchers to support biofuels, claiming there is enough agricultural land for the production of biofuels (De Volkskrant, 2008). Other journalists argued for more nuance on the issue, as biofuels are less good for the climate as previously thought (Eickhout, 2008). On the other hand, the use of nuclear energy is increasingly being accepted; Wagendorp (2008) claims in his article that nuclear energy is needed to tackle climate change. In 2010 a new debate around biofuels arises; new evidence suggested that the indirect effects of biofuels harm the climate (Persson, 2010). In addition, the decision of Dutch minister of economic affairs to eliminate subsidies for green energy received negative reaction from journalists, saying the move was rather short-sighted (Verhaak, 2010). In 2012, to the surprise of several journalists, the Dutch government chose to use more biofuels in car fuels. This was accompanied by criticism of journalists on the Dutch politics on green energy, arguing politicians did not focus on the use of renewable energy enough (Persson, 2012). In 2014, wind energy was represented as the future for Dutch clean energy, while shale gas was debated on by the Dutch government for potential future energy use (De Volkskrant, 2014; ANP, 2014). In 2016, journalists criticized the Netherlands lagging behind renewable energy targets; in 2014 the share of green energy was 5,5%, which must be 14% in 2020 (Trommelen, 2016; De Volkskrant, 2016). In addition, journalists covered both positive and negative developments on renewable energy politics. The decision of several Dutch regional governments not to authorize new offshore windmill parks because of horizon
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pollution was negatively reported, and the new goal of Amsterdam to be natural gas-free by 2050 was positively received (Van Hooijdonk, 2016; Van Weezel, 2016). Political decision-making on renewable energy was not, unlike other years, the second most covered subject with regard with climate change politics. However, the new plans of the green left party ‘GroenLinks’ were presented, which includes investing in solar and wind energy and home isolation (Herderscheê, 2018).
Food (meat) consumption
In 2008, the Dutch politician Marianne Thieme advocated for eating less meat to save the climate, which she argued should be supported by the government (De Volkskrant, 2008). Also the UN argued for a change in diet to tackle climate change; as livestock is responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gases (to compare: transportation is responsible for 13%) (ANP, 2008). Biochemist Harry Aiking claimed that next to meat, dairy products also negatively affect the climate, and stated that the Dutch government gives too little attention to this issue (Van Dinther, 2014). In 2018, journalist Mac van Dinther declared why Dutch politicians do not implement policies to reduce our meat consumption: political decision-making on meat has been a taboo in Dutch politics for years as the economic stakes are high since the Dutch meat industry is worth a lot (Van Dinther, 2018). After this article was published, several other journalists reported the impact of livestock on climate change and the importance of politicians to recognize the problem and implement policy.
Infrastructure
In 2008 it was argued by Rijcken that innovation causes water management of the Netherlands to be less effective; the country could be best protected from rising sea levels by ‘old fashioned’ dike raising (De Volkskrant, 2008). However, other articles gave voice to politicians who came up with other measures, such as the deposition of sand on the seabed (Van Keken, 2008). In 2012 new debates arose on infrastructure adaptation strategies to protect the Netherlands after floods occurred in one of the northern provinces (Van Lieshout, 2012). The union of water board argued in the same year that the Dutch government does too little prevent flooding due to climate change (De Volkskrant, 2012). Still progress is made in the Netherlands according to some journalists, as Dutch climate adaptation strategies were also applied to Asian cities (Van Raaij, 2018). So, there is parallel politics in the Netherlands: on the one hand the country tries to reduce CO2-emissions through multilateral-organisations (idealistic), and
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Environment/biodiversityLittle focus has been placed on the environment or the biodiversity with regard to climate change politics in the articles. Several items focused on initiatives of regional Dutch governments to save certain (fish and bird) species that came under pressure due to climate change in 2008 (ANP, 2008). However, in 2010 a journalist argued that conservation of all animal and plant species is not realistic, policy should instead focus on increasing nature’s adaptability (Reijn, 2010). Also international issues on the environment were covered, such as the government of Australia trying to protect Great Barrier Reef from climate change and Barack Obama advocating for the preservation of the national parks of the US, which were threatened by climate change (Speksnijder, 2016; De Volkskrant, 2016).
Security
Last, only two articles reported security issues related to climate change politics; in 2008 and 2012. The first article mentioned the expansion of the British Security Service ‘MI5’ because of climate change’s impact on global stability and safety (AP, 2008). In the second article several researchers argued politicians wrongly assume that climate change by definition causes conflict, which is never scientifically proven (Keulemans, 2012).
Although there are many scientific uncertainties involved in linking climate change to conflict and instability, “there has been some speculation about the ways that climate change may increase the risk of violent conflict” (Barnett & Adger, 2007, p. 640). This makes that the idea that international security would be unaffected by the effects of almost any of the projections of climate change difficult to sustain. However, as Dalby (2009) argues “the scholarly that suggests that environmental changes rarely cause conflict directly and only occasionally do so indirectly doesn’t get as much attention in the media as the more alarmist claims about imminent crisis” (p. 3). In addition, “international institutions have been slow formally to designate climate change as a matter of security” (Dalby, 2013, p. 34). According to Dalby (2013) this is partly due to the diffuse responsibilities for the causes of climate change. So, the reason why De
Volkskrant gives little attention to security issues with regard to climate change politics
is not because of avoiding alarmism, but rather because of lack of evidence and recognition. According to Dalby (2014) we need to rethink geopolitics in terms of human security. Security is not just about the predominance of military power, but also about climate security and the necessary infrastructure adaptations to emergent events due to climate change
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4.2.2 TypeThe vast majority of the articles (about eighty percent each year) on climate change politics focused on mitigation strategies. This is in accordance with what has been discussed in the previous section, namely that decision-making on CO2-emissions was most reported; which by definition encompasses mitigation strategies. Adaptation strategies were commonly covered in articles focusing on politics on infrastructure, environment/biodiversity, or security. These findings are in line with results from other previous studies, for example Anderson (2009) stated: “so far, the emphasis within news media coverage has tended to be on mitigation rather than adaptation” (p. 178). It is not just journalists preferring mitigation over adaptation measures, a psychological study found that people in general prefer “mitigation of GHG emissions (“undoing the effects of global warming”) over adaptation measures (“providing…economic assistance”)” (Boykoff & Roberts, 2007, p 21). Underlying this may be people preferring thinking about climate change as something controllable and reversible, as we like being in control over things (Greenberg, Koole, & Pyszczynski, 2004). In addition, news media frame mitigation as something that is primarily concerned with “national governments in the context of international negotiations”, and adaptation as “a matter for local actors, individual households, and companies in the context of a regional society” (Olausson, 2009, p. 432). This is because news media follow the political discourse: “responsibility for mitigation is primarily delegated to the international institutions, whereas responsibility for adaptation is left to the local or national spheres” (Olausson, 2009, p. 432). Classical geopolitics would say in this case that “mitigation” is work that is to be done by nation states/organisations and “adaptation” as an inter-state/sovereign issue. This has also been observed in this study, as most articles on adaptation strategies focused on regional decision-making: such as regional support to help the biodiversity in the ‘Markermeer’ and municipal water boards deciding on flood protection strategies (ANP, 2008; Van Lieshout, 2012), and most mitigation strategies focused on national/international decision-making: such as the annual climate conferences of the UN to reduce global CO2-emissions.
4.2.3 Scale
In all years – except 2018 – most articles were international oriented, which presuppose that the politics of climate change are to be thought about at a planetary level, rather than a regional or national one. Many articles throughout the years reported new climate policies of large governmental bodies such as the EU and the UN (in light of the annual climate conferences primarily). Also important international political actors in the field of climate change (such as actors Al Gore and Obama for example) were discussed, which will be elaborated on the next section. It is not surprising the newspaper mainly focused
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on international climate politics, as global warming is an issue that must be dealt with at the international level. However, it does indicate that international politics on climate change provide more “relevant and dramatic components necessary to make news” (Brossard et al., 2004, p. 364). Also a great number of articles each year were dedicated to national oriented political topics. The Dutch government was criticized rather than praised for its efforts to implements policies to tackle climate and reach the goals set by the EU and UN. It was argued that the national government focuses too little on renewable energy and too much on fossil fuels, ignores the impact of the meat industry on the climate, and is doing less good compared to other European countries with regard to CO2-reduction. Little attention has been paid to regional climate politics throughout
the years in the newspaper. This may be because of the argument made earlier: international events are receiving more attention due to their relevance and thus newsworthiness. This causes regional political events to be placed in the background, ensuring these events seem of less importance. Also, De Volkskrant is a national newspaper, so reporting regional events may be, by definition, third choice.
4.3 Predominant actors
Over the last ten years, certain (political) figures or agencies were more often and prominently discussed than others. These figures do not only include (international) politicians, but also intergovernmental and environmental organizations. Climate change is a phenomenon that features a wide range of “actors”, both human and non human; much of the discussion around climate change and politics in geography has recently focussed on non-human actors and forces which compose climate change (Clark, 2010). In this section, human predominant actors in the reporting of climate change politics will be considered.
4.3.1 Politicians
Both Dutch politicians as well as foreign politicians (primarily presidents) were covered in the De Volkskrant. The latter will be discussed second in this section.
Dutch politicians
The Dutch politicians mainly included ministers and party leaders. In 2008, former state secretary Tineke Huizinga argued for innovation with regard to flood protection to adapt to climate change; dike raising is not the right answer to climate change according to Huizinga, instead, creative ‘out-of-the-box’ solutions are necessary (De Volkskrant, 2008). In addition, she argued that these solutions, to protect the Netherlands from the rising sea level, need financial back up (Van Keken, 2008). Huizinga was represented to be a supporter of national climate policy, as she stressed the urgency to take action
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given the consequences of climate change in the Netherlands (more frequent precipitation and flooding) (Persson, 2008). Former minister of ‘Housing, Spatial Planning, and the Environment’ Jacqueline Cramer, on the other hand, believes market forces (self regulation) will help tackle climate change and thus opposed stricter rules for the climate compensation market (Trommelen, 2008). She also is an opponent of the use of nuclear energy, as finds the Netherlands too densely populated for nuclear power plants. Cramer provided financial support for local climate policy and developing countries, implying local initiatives to tackle climate change are important as well as helping developing countries to adapt to climate change (Van de Weijer, 2008; Eickhout, 2012). Cramer believes the ‘European Union Emissions Trading Scheme’ is the core of the European climate policy (ANP, 2008). Mark Rutte, prime minister and leader of the conservative-liberal political party ‘VVD’, is known for his opposition to European climate policies, receiving negative commentary from journalists and environmental organizations (Böhler & Van Tongeren, 2010; Van Keken & Keuning 2010). The VVD, led by Rutte, was also accused of not prioritizing sustainable energy (Persson, 2012). Last, policies introduced by Rutte tend to reinforce the inequality that exists in Dutch climate policy financing: the lowest incomes relatively pay the most (compared to higher incomes) (Reijn, 2018). Leader of the Social Democratic Party ‘PvdA’ Diederik Samsom, on the other hand, is represented as an advocate of national climate policy. He claims climate change and our fossil fuel use are the main problems facing contemporary society (De Volkskrant, 2008). Samson is against the use of nuclear energy, and in 2016 he proposed a new climate law to legally commit to the CO2-reduction goal of 95% by 2050 compared to 1990 (Du Pré, 2016).
Foreign politicians
Among the foreign (American) politicians covered in the newspaper articles on climate change politics were Barack Obama: former president of the United States, and Donald Trump: current president of the US. Obama won the presidential elections in 2008, and set high CO2-reduction goals; he aimed for a reduction of eighty percent in 2050 compared to 1990 (ANP, 2008). According to Al Gore, former Vice President of the US, Obama was seen to be ‘better’ for the climate than his predecessor George Bush (ANP, 2008). In addition, observers were more optimistic about America’s ambition to sign the new climate treaty of the UN due to the arrival of Obama; the US did not sign the previous agreement: the ‘Kyoto Protocol’ in 1997. However, some journalists argued the failure of the climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009 (which could have laid the foundation for the new international climate treaty) was the result of Obama complicating the negotiations (Obbema, 2010). Others defined Obama’s efforts with regard to climate change ‘half-hearted’, stating that he does not live up to his promises
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(Elshout, 2012). Obama’s successor Donald Trump, who was elected as president in late 2016, was also discussed in the newspaper. Trump is perceived to be a ‘climate denier’, he claimed – among other things – that climate change does not exist and that America was going to repudiate the Paris Agreement and reinvest in fossil energy (Vos et al., 2016). Trump’s priority is the US industry; climate change is seen by him as an obstacle to achieve economic development. In 2017, the US withdrawals from the Paris Agreement, living up to the speculations and concerns of many politicians and journalists (Vos, 2018). This highlights the importance of sovereign power in the geopolitical realm: one leader alone (such as Trump) can undermine climate negotiations, treaties, and agreements.
4.3.2 Intergovernmental organizations
Two large international bodies were most prominently reported: the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN). In this section these will be discussed with regard to climate change politics. In addition, the most prominent figures in the field of climate change within these bodies will be considered.
The European Union
The EU was one of the most frequent represented figures in the newspaper between 2008 and May 2018. In 2008, chairman José Manuel Barroso presented the climate- and energy policy plan of the EU for the period of 2013 to 2020, which included regulations to ensure a greenhouse gas reduction of at least twenty percent in 2020 (as compared to 1990) and to increase the share of renewable energy to twenty percent (ANP, 2008). In addition, it was agreed on that wealthier countries within the EU needed to aim for a greater greenhouse gas reduction than the poor countries (ANP, 2008). the EU also decided to increase the use biofuels to tackle climate change, receiving negative comments from environmental organizations as they claimed biofuels significantly increase the demand for agricultural land (which is scarce) and CO2-emissions (ANP,
2010). The climate policies of the EU also caused commotion outside the union: for example, China refused to pay the European CO2-tax on the aviation sector, leading
journalists to speak of a potential ‘climate/trade war’ (Persson, 2012). However, most climate policies of the EU were received positively, such as the agreement to build cars more environmentally friendly as of 2012, the auctioning of CO2-emission rights in 2008,
and the abolition of subsidies for coal mines as of 2014. Connie Hedegaard - climate commissioner of the EU - was often referred to in these articles, as a supporter of ambitious climate plans. In 2012 Hedegaard argued that, while everyone was still under the spell of the economic crisis, hardly anyone gave attention to the climate ‘crisis’;
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climate change does not wait for politicians, and waiting costs them money she stated (Persson, 2012).
The United Nations
Het UN was represented to play a key role in the global geopolitics on climate change. This international organization received most attention from De Volkskrant through its annual climate change conferences and its ‘Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’ (IPCC). The UN also called for a reduction in global meat consumption to mitigate (the effects of) climate change (ANP, 2008). In 2008, the UN argued that the financial crisis would affect climate change governance, which turned out to be true following the above-mentioned argumentation of Hedegaard. Much have been written on the climate conference of 2009, which ‘failed’ according to many politicians and journalists. In the subsequent years, a more pessimistic discourse existed with regard to the UN climate conferences in the newspaper (ANP, 2010). However, in the build-up to the climate conference of 2015 (which was seen as a decisive summit) journalists reported in a more positive way (Van Raaij, 2014).
UN & the science-politics relationship
The UN also influenced the political debate around climate change through its IPCC reports, which assess and aggregate climate change research. As discussed earlier, the IPCC caused journalists and politicians to reconsider the relationship between science and politics after the organization made several incorrect claims in their reports. These articles started appearing in De Volkskrant in January 2010, when it turned out that Himalayan glaciers will not be melted in 2035 (like the IPCC claimed), but only in 2350 (Sommer, 2010). Later, this event was referred to as the ‘glaciergate’, adopting the terminology of the ‘Watergate scandal’ that took place in the US in the 1970s (Sommer, 2010). Not much later the IPCC also appeared to have made other inaccurate scientific claims, one of which the incorrect estimation of the polder water levels in the Netherlands (Sommer, 2010). As a response, Dutch politicians said to have lost trust in IPCC, but also argued that because of the mistakes ‘finally’ a debate on climate change was awakened. Although the mistakes of the IPCC do not detract from the general knowledge that global temperatures are rising, politicians (completely) rely on climate science as input for decision-making (at most of them are lay people), and thus need reliable information (Van Keken & Meijer, 2010). If scientific communities such as the IPCC violate this trust, politicians start to question the legitimacy of climate science (Van Keken & Meijer, 2010). After the media reported the issue, the IPCC acknowledged its mistakes by stating that its processes and procedures now will be subjected to critical examination (Dijkgraaf & Fresco, 2010). According to Dijkgraaf and Fresco (2010) this
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happening made clear that no matter how solid science is constructed, the links between science and politics must also be strong in order to be able to translate knowledge into policy. Science simply does not provide ready-made policy solutions, but rather insight and uncertainty (Dijkgraaf & Fresco, 2010) Certainly with subjects such as climate change, where the interests and potential consequences are great, such links are subject to strong social, economic, and geopolitical forces (Dijkgraaf & Fresco, 2010). Due to the uncertain nature of climate change, politicians are more likely to focus on other environmental issues that are more ‘tangible’, such as the plastic pollution problem of international waters (Van Keken & Meijer, 2010). In addition, the scientific uncertainties concerning climate change ensure that the links between science and politics tend to be weaker, making it more difficult to translate knowledge into policy. If scientific organizations such as the IPCC in addition make incorrect scientific claims, these linkages and knowledge translations will become even less solid.
4.3.3 Environmental organizations
The environmental organizations that were most reported in the articles on climate change politics are Greenpeace and ‘Milieudefensie’. Greenpeace is an international environmental organization with almost three million members, while Milieudefensie is a Dutch environmental organization with over 80.000 members. Dutch politician Diederik Samsom is one of the three million members of Greenpeace, and argues that he has chosen to support Greenpeace, rather than Milieudefensie, because Greenpeace is an institution with international strength (De Volkskrant, 2008). In addition, he associates Milieudefensie with individuals who put the heating at 14 degrees Celsius instead, and who wear an extra sweater when its cold in their house (De Volkskrant, 2008).
Greenpeace
Greenpeace reacted dissatisfied with the agreement of the EU to to build cars more environmentally friendly as of 2012, as the organization claimed this new policy does not really help to protect the climate; the EU must set higher standards (ANP, 2008). Greenpeace also disapproved the choice of the Swedish government to replace ten obsolete nuclear power plants with new ones, claiming the plants are far from safe (AFP et al., 2010). However, Greenpeace found the decision of the Council of State to withdraw the permit for a new coal-fired power plant in the Netherlands to be a victory for the climate; as coal plants emit twice as much CO2 as gas-fired power plants
(Persson, 2008). The organization was also pleased with the agreement of the European Commission to tighten the CO2-reduction aim from twenty to thirty percent by 2020
compared to 1990 (ANP, 2010). Greenpeace prefers prevention over ‘recovering’ of climate change with regard to policies; a transition to clean energy and energy efficiency
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are essential to prevent future generations of overspending on dike raising (ANP, 2012). Initiatives such as the energy-dialogue of 2016, a public debate on sustainable energy initiated by the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Henk Kamp, is not enough to achieve this (Trommelen, 2016). Such political actions gave Greenpeace the impression that politicians wanted to stretch time, rather than come up to with solutions to accelerate the energy transition (Trommelen, 2016). Last, Greenpeace thinks the inequality in Dutch climate policy financing (discussed earlier) is ‘a big issue’ (Reijn, 2018).
Milieudefensie
In 2008 several environmental organizations, among which ‘Milieudefensie’, argued for a climate law which obliges the Dutch prime minister to present an annual ‘climate budget’ (ANP, 2008). In this way, Milieudefensie stated, the prime minister will take 'final responsibility’, and will climate policy be as important as the Budget Memorandum (ANP, 2008). Campaign leader of Milieudefensie Willem Verhaak declared that time of waiting and non-commitment is over; it is time for action now (ANP, 2008). In 2014 Milieudefensie protested against the plans of Henk Kamp to focus on shale gas, as they found that the objections to the extraction of shale gas were not taken into consideration enough (ANP, 2014). Milieudefensie shared the same opinion as Greenpeace with regard to Henk Kamp’s efforts to promote sustainable energy: the minister does too little to accelerate the energy transition (ANP, 2016). In addition, the organization argued that if Kamp would be more ambitious and would stick to the Paris agreement, the Netherlands would have to be gas-free by 2030 (ANP, 2016). Last, it was Milieudefensie which found about the inequality in Dutch climate policy financing as the organization commissioned a report drafted by a Dutch research agency (Reijn, 2018).
4.4 Predominant journalistic norms
The set of journalistic norms identified by Boykoff and Boykoff (2007) regarding news media reporting climate change are: personalization, dramatization, novelty, authority-order, and balance. These norms were adopted in this study to analyse how journalists in De Volkskrant report climate change politics. “Novelty” and “authority-order” were found to be most used, whereas the other three norms were virtually not used. Although some journalists might say it is impossible to be “netural”, some articles were perceived not to explicitly use any of the abovementioned norms.
Novelty
In all years, “novelty” showed to be the most norm used by journalists in De Volkskrant. Evans (2016) defined this journalistic norm as the “focus on the news angle that makes a story unique or timely” (p. 500). In reporting climate change politics this norm was
