Das Klima und die EU: Eine Diskursperspektive auf die deutsche und schweizerische Klimapolitik

Abstract

This contribution analyzes the potential transformation of the media discourse related to Swiss and German climate policy. In particular, we strive to highlight how the crises of the European Union (EU) are echoed in the climate policy discourse. A new dataset was generated to analyze the political discourse of climate policy between 2009-2017, through the systematic review of media attention and a detailed discourse network analysis. Several hypotheses have guided the analysis. Firstly, we expect that climate discourses in both countries are generally similar, primarily with regard to media attention and the composition of discourse coalitions. Secondly, we expect that external events such as the climate conference in Copenhagen, the reactor accident in Fukushima or the Paris agreement to influence media attention. The third expectation claims that EU crises may be noticed in the discourse as well, visible as dips in attention, primarily in Germany. Finally, the discourse coalitions in both countries will promote a different discourse related to the EU in order to achieve their climate policy goals; in Switzerland pursued primarily through conservative voices, while in Germany the progressive coalitions will argue in favor of EU climate policy and strengthened cooperation among member states.