THE ROAD TO CLIMATE JUSTICE A discursive analysis of global climate governance between 2015 and 2022

Abstract

There is an urgent need for effective global climate governance addressing the pressing threat of climate change. Based on the institutional power of language, various research has examined the development of global climate governance through discursive lenses, however, the recent period has not yet been examined. Thus, this thesis aims to examine to what extent there has been a shift or replication of the earlier identified discourses of ecological modernization, civic environmentalism, and climate justice within the Conferences of the Parties (COP) through the period of 2015 and 2022. The aim is also to examine whether the found development is associable with the outcome of COP 27 and thus contribute to an understanding of the process of political negotiations. The study conducts a qualitative textual analysis of data produced within the COP through the examined years. This is based on an analytical framework containing three dimensions of how each discourse frames the problem, solution, and agency of climate change. The results show a continuity of the earlier identified discourses throughout the examined period. However, it also reveals a shift where the discourse of climate justice has gained traction over time, which is associable with the political outcome of COP 27. The findings of the study contribute to new understandings of discourse structuration through the examined period and the ongoing debate on global climate governance. It also contributes to understanding the association between discursive developments and political actions in discovering how a discursive shift may be linked to a political outcome.