The report, Climate Change News Audiences: Analysis of News Use and Attitudes in Eight Countries, analyses how people in eight countries – Brazil, France, Germany, India, Japan, Pakistan, the UK, and the USA – accessed news and information about climate change in 2023. The report aims to bring out a valuable comparison between countries such as France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the USA in the Global North, and Brazil, India, and Pakistan in the Global South. 

While there is plenty of data on the patterns of news consumption in the Global North, the empirical research in the Global South is still in the nascent stage, even though these regions have a huge population with a heightened climate risk, it says. 

The report found that 80 percent of respondents are concerned about climate change misinformation. News and information about climate change from scientists was trusted the most by 73 percent of respondents on an average. Television and online (including social media and messaging apps) are where the respondents see most climate-related misinformation. They also frequently mentioned politicians, political parties and governments as sources of misinformation. Respondents from the Global South perceived larger effects on public health due to climate change in comparison to the Global North. “People did not express a clear preference for the type of solutions journalism they are most interested in,” reads the report, which was released in the run-up to COP28. The important report reaffirms the pivotal role of news media in shaping attitudes towards climate change by emphasising the positive link between climate change news and informed public opinions.