Challenging preconceived notions and producing reliable, reference-based data: one of the pillars of our action.
1. The media are already talking about it a lot.
2. The media are talking about it more and more.
3. Disinformation does not exist in the media.
At QuotaClimat, and with all our partners, we quantify and qualify the media treatment of environmental crises. The production of reliable data and references allows us to move beyond preconceived notions, objectively assess the situation, and seek appropriate solutions.
Quantifying the extent of media coverage on environmental issues addresses the “How much?” question. It allows us to understand the actual level of public exposure to these issues, consider the evolution of this coverage, its dependency on other political and geopolitical topics, and even assess the risk of its exclusion from the media landscape.
Qualifying the coverage addresses the “What?” but also the “How?” What topics are covered? Which sectors are represented? Is the biodiversity crisis less covered than the climate crisis? What proportion of environmental content focuses on solutions? What is the prevalence of climate disinformation in traditional media? What are the differences between audiovisual and print media?
Objectifying the media treatment of ecological issues is the starting point for many stakeholders:
- Civil society and NGOs, to raise awareness among everyone, make our voices heard by institutions, and propose solutions;
- Citizens, to better understand the media that inform them daily and to engage with us in this effort;
- Public authorities, regulators, and legislators, because equipping decision-making with reliable data is essential;
- Media, journalists, editors, and shareholders, to identify internal levers for improvement.
The Media Observatory on Ecology
Alongside a consortium of stakeholders supported by ADEME and Arcom, QuotaClimat is developing the Media Observatory on Ecology, quantifying and qualifying the media treatment of ecological issues in French audiovisual and print media.
This consortium includes the associations Data For Good, Expertise Climat, Climat Médias, as well as the companies Mediatree and eleven strategy.
It is supported by an expert committee. The Observatory’s primary task is to produce both quantitative and qualitative data on the media coverage of environmental crises: climate change, biodiversity collapse, and the natural resources crisis.
Its first results were officially released on November 7, 2024, including:
- Environmental issues accounted for an average of 3.7% of airtime in 2024, a 30% decrease from 2023.
- Biodiversity and the erosion of natural resources are the most underrepresented aspects in media coverage of environmental issues. These crises are 2 to 4 times less covered than climate change.
- Peaks in coverage are linked to extreme weather events, but the coverage of environmental solutions has not increased. The risk is to create a sense of “information fatigue,” leading to demobilization or denial reactions among the public.
- Among the sectors mentioned by the media when discussing climate or the environment, the construction sector appears insufficiently covered, given its role in greenhouse gas emissions and ecological transition.
- As with other forms of information, major political events serve as triggers for media content on the environment. When political news downplays environmental issues, the media tend to follow suit, which may explain part of the decline in coverage since the spring of 2024.
- During COP 29, climate coverage accounted for 5.1% of airtime—12% less than during COP 28 (5.8%). Despite this drop between the two editions, there has been an overall increase in climate airtime during the conference compared to the 2023 average (4.5%) and the 2024 average (3%).
Automated detection of climate disinformation in the media
Our international report on the subject, released in November 2024, highlights that climate disinformation is not confined to social media—it also affects traditional media. As a result, it becomes normalized, the confusion between facts and opinions deepens, and it obstructs climate action.
To objectify this observation, estimate the prevalence of environmental disinformation, and illustrate its increased occurrences during significant political, economic, or geopolitical moments, we are actively working on the automated detection and reporting of this disinformation.
On the national level, the Media Observatory on Ecology is a winner of Alternatives Vertes 2 (a France 2030 project call), and will work in the coming year on disinformation detection alongside our partners: Climat Médias, Expertise Climat, Data For Good, eleven Strategy, Mediatree.
On the international level, we are recipient of JournalismAI alongside Science Feedback and Data For Good, aiming to expand and enhance this work across several pilot countries, including Brazil and Germany.
Our Pilot Barometer in 2022-2023
Our pilot barometer developed with Data For Good revealed that:
- The media covered the Qatar World Cup 20 times more than COP15 on biodiversity, which itself accounted for just 0.3% of media coverage during the two weeks of the event;
- COP 27 occupied 1.4% of the media volume during the two weeks of the event, which is less than COP 26, which accounted for 1.8% of total media space;
- The IPCC received 13 times less media coverage than the pension reform.
