Framing Climate Change on YouTube: North-South Divides in Narratives and Public Engagement

TL;DR

This study analyzes climate change videos on YouTube to explore North-South narrative divides and public engagement differences, revealing regional discursive patterns and contrasting audience responses that reflect global climate politics.

Contribution

It introduces a comparative analysis of North-South climate narratives on YouTube, combining topic modeling and sentiment analysis to uncover regional discursive and engagement disparities.

Findings

North videos emphasize emissions policies; South videos focus on development.

Audience comments under North videos show criticism and conspiracy theories.

Comments under South videos are more supportive and constructive.

Abstract

Climate change debates have gained increasing visibility on social media, with YouTube emerging as one of the most influential platforms for political communication. Reaching billions of users worldwide, it functions both as a news outlet and as a space for public discourse. While existing studies of climate discourse on YouTube often adopt a global perspective, this study examines the platform through the lens of the Global North-South divide. We analyse a dataset of 758 climate-related videos and their comment sections, applying topic modelling and sentiment analysis to identify recurring discursive patterns. Through these patterns, we recognise parallels with respect to debates in international climate negotiations. The findings reveal notable differences. Videos from the Global North and Global South reflect real-world divides, with the North emphasising the need for policies to curb carbon emissions, while the South highlights developmental priorities. A key area of convergence between the regions lies in the shared recognition of the importance of emissions reduction and international agreements. Audience responses, however, diverge more sharply: comment sections under Global North videos are dominated by criticism, conspiracy, and climate fatigue, whereas those under Global South videos are generally more supportive, constructive, and knowledge-oriented. Overall, the study demonstrates how YouTube reflects and reshapes global climate politics, while also revealing the gap between curated narratives and public sentiment. Bridging these divides may contribute to more inclusive and cooperative approaches to climate action.