Environmental steps in the long march of world politics : Australian frames of China in the climate change context

Climate change has risen on the global agenda. It is not limited to the issue of escalating temperature; food and land security, natural disasters, the population problem and other critical issues are germane to it. Environmentally sustainable development needs an updated framework of international trade regulations, economic development model and consumption patterns. Climate change cannot be treated as a stand-alone issue; it has been drawn increasingly into the political and economic agenda. The emerging world order will be constructed under an environmental reality. The UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009 heralded a new reshuffling of the world order. As environmental issues revolve around common human interest, government efforts directed at environmental improvement are of great public concern. Media shifts their attention to policy making and policy on environmental issues, and environmental influences on governance. With media spotlights turned on environmental issues, on the world stage, there are opportunities for international actors to improve or reshape their image through accentuating their ‘green-ness’, in terms of environmental policies and actions. Image reformation and environmental diplomacy are two courses open to nation states, in the context of the contemporary global climate change discourse. The study focuses on Australian national newspapers’ framing of China’s environmental image at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, aiming to resolve two research questions employing framing analysis: 1) What is the environmental image of China that is portrayed by Australian national newspapers? 2) What can the environmental framing of China in the Australian national newspapers be decoded in a world political context?16 page(s