Summoned by science: Reporting climate change at Copenhagen and beyond

The December 2009 summit on climate change in Copenhagen was remarkable not because it ended in an ambitious deal to curb greenhouse gas emissions but because of the unprecedented number of journalists, delegates, NGOs and scientists present.Analysis of more than 400 articles published in two print media in 12 countries has produced a detailed analysis of the coverage of the summit across the globe, revealing that articles written principally about the science of climate change represented less than 10 per cent of all those surveyed.The study makes extensive use of official UN figures to produce the first detailed assessment of who actually attended Copenhagen. It also includes a survey of over 50 environmental journalists and scientists across the 12 target countries post-Copenhagen to ascertain how they think climate change science might be best communicated.