Climate Change Communication in Vietnam’s Online Newspapers and Its Implications for Climate Actions

Climate change has become a prominent global issue, demanding the attention of governments and populations due to convincing scientific evidence concerning its sources and effects. Even though a strong commitment to finding ways of reducing individual emissions is an important element of coping with climate change, initiatives to enhance public awareness and engage people in climate-friendly activities seem to be overlooked. Individuals’ reactions to climate change are shaped by their understanding of its causes, consequences, and implications, and this is heavily influenced by communications on the topic in public media. However, the discourses offered on climate change are problematic, leading to oversimplification and differing levels of comprehension. The widespread contentious debate over the causes and implications of climate change, alongside a scarcity of published research on communication about climate change in developing countries, suggests significant information gaps must be addressed. An analysis was performed on 397 articles from Vietnamese online newspapers, employing content analysis and framing to examine the communication of climate change to the public in Vietnam in the past two decades. The findings indicate an anthropocentric framing of climate change, which highlights institutional solutions, set up at a psychological distance from the public. Moreover, the pervasive propaganda advocating for eco-friendly solutions and methods may generate an optimistic perception that this issue can be resolved without altering individual habits.