Abstract

Climate change denial can be defined as the stance grounded on discourses that question the scientific evidence about climate change existence and its anthropogenic causes. This view also denies the need of rethinking the capitalistic economic production model, and, therefore, the global challenge and the moral responsibility linked to it. Previous research has shown that climate change denial, at least in the US, is promoted by economic interests and values aimed at perpetuating privileges and power through interest groups, mostly think tanks. More recently, the concept of ideological denial has been suggested to point out at the refusal to rethink the ideas underlying the causes and proposed solutions to mitigate global warming, which are conditioned by anthropocentric beliefs and which are reported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is necessary to understand that although mitigation plans and strategies have been increasingly promoted by all the IPCC reports, there has not been a significant reduction of global warming emissions in the last decades. This paper will present the preliminary results of an on-going doctoral research aimed at unveiling whether green non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Spain, identified as interest groups that fight against climate change denial, fall into ideological denial. In particular, the paper will introduce results of a frame analysis regarding the three themes identified in ideological denial by the project THINKClima (2018) following IPCC reports: the denial of animal-based diet and human overpopulation as problems and the trust in technology as a major solution. To this end, a frame analysis following Entman’s methodology has been conducted on the four main green NGOS in Spain according to visibility, prestige and importance in relation to their activity and membership. These are: Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Friends of the Earth and Ecologistas en Acción. The main goal of the frame analysis was to examine whether the sampled green NGOs contribute with their discourse to disseminate the solutions aligned with the problems detected by the IPCC or, on the contrary, they neglect them. Thus, the three themes (the problems of animal-based diet and human overpopulation and the faith in technology) have been coded to see whether they have been taken into consideration and how in a sample of 1,209 documents. The hypothesis of the research is that the main green NGOs operating in Spain are impregnated of ideological denialism and thus neglecting to disseminate the information that can objectively be more effective in the fight against climate change. Since these organizations are interest groups who can be considered disseminators of knowledge regarding climate change, they are thus relevant communication actors which can have an impact on policies, media and the public opinion. This research is linked to the THINKClima research project. References Boykoff, M. y Boykoff, J. (2004). Balance as bias: global warming and the us prestige press. Global Environmental Change, 14:125–136. Dunlap, R.E. (2013). Climate Change Skepticism and Denial: An Introduction. American Behavioral Scientist, 57(6): 691-698. Entman, R. M. (1993). Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. Journal of Communication, 43, 51-58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1993.tb01304.x IPCC (2014). Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. [Core Writing Team, R.K. Pachauri and L.A. Meyer (eds.)]. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC. http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment- report/ar5/syr/SYR_AR5_FINAL_full_wcover.pdf IPCC (2018). Special Report. Global Warming of 1.5 ºC. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC. https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ Medvetz, T. (2012). Think tanks in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Plehwe, D. (2014), 'Think tank networks and the knowledge—interest nexus: The case of climate change'. Critical Policy Studies, 8 (1), 101–115. Taylor, M.; Weaver, M.; & Davidson, H. (8 de octubre de 2018). IPCC climate change report calls for urgent action to phase out fossil fuels – as it happened. The Guardian. Recuperado de https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2018/oct/08/ipcc- climate-change-report-urgent-action-fossil-fuels-live THINKClima (2018). Key concepts. Climate change, denialism and advocacy communication. Discourse and strategies of think tanks in Europe.