Recent research video explainer: Climate Action on Twitter (now X) during COP26

Scientists say that immediate and society-wide climate actions are needed to prevent the negative consequences of climate change. But what does the public think?

Our colleague Xinran Wang recently published a paper together with Madeline Judge and Linda Steg where they looked at 80,000 tweets about climate action posted during the United Nations Climate Conference in 2021 to explore the diversity climate actions and actors being discussed online.

Here are their main takeaways:

Political and industry leaders are widely perceived as the most responsible and capable of taking action, but because of their current inaction, they are seen as harmful agents inhibiting climate progress which triggers anger, fear, and blame.

Discussion about citizens and local communities demonstrates hope and solidarity in enacting pro-environmental changes from the bottom up, signaling strong public demand for ambitious climate policies and actions.

Along with bottom-up activism, NGOs, scientists and the technology and energy sectors are seen as helpful agents who are motivated and taking action to limit climate change.

The findings highlight the importance of removing institutional barriers and tapping into public support to accelerate collective climate progress.

Find this paper – along with all of our most recent research – on our publications page!