ANALYSING MEDIA REPRESENTATIONS OF CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE: A GEOGRAPHIC COMPARISON OF BRAZIL AND PORTUGAL

Abstract

Climate change has recently gained significant attention on political, economic, and social agendas. Extensive debates within the European Union have underscored its growing importance across society, leading to substantial efforts to implement strategies for adaptation. Brazil has also engaged with the climate agenda; however, it has recently adopted a more conservative stance. This study, based on media research, aims to elucidate how climate issues are addressed within different political contexts, specifically analyzing the disparities in their social construction and significance for societies in Brazil and Portugal. Over the course of a year, news articles were collected from Brazilian (Estad & atilde;o) and Portuguese (Jornal de Not & iacute;cias) newspapers using the search terms climate and climate change. In both countries, the majority of articles were linked to the political agenda but for different reasons. In Portugal, the climate agenda is integrated into the political framework; conversely, the climate agenda in Brazil receives comparatively less emphasis. It can be stated that climate change is a well- established issue in Portugal, where discussions have shifted away from its importance to focus on mitigation and adaptation strategies. In Brazil, however, concerns about legitimacy of the climate change persist, with proposed measures often regarded as exaggerated or unnecessary.