Perspectives of the reporting on carbon trading and carbon offsetting in Swedish newspapers: 2007 and 2014

Sammanfattning: As response to climate change, the UN and the EU have adopted a market-based approach aiming to reduce Greenhouse gases via flexible market-based mechanisms, constituted by carbon trading and carbon offsetting. The approach rests on the notion that sustainable development and environmental protection are compatible with a liberal market and economic growth. However, this rather complex issue is debated among stakeholders and the perspectives of the matter vary. As an important societal institution, Swedish newspapers play a central democratic role by interpreting, conveying and discussing responses to climate change. By having this informative role, Swedish newspapers influence the public agenda. This study aims to analyze and describe how carbon trading and carbon offsetting are presented in Swedish newspapers by revealing patterns within their content. The research was conducted via a content analysis of 204 articles in the two leading newspapers in Sweden, Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter covering the years 2007 and 2014. The results could be summarized as: (i) the issue is described through a variety of contexts with strong influence of ideological messages, (ii) the elites in society in general and domestic political parties/allianes in particular are the most dominant stakeholder groups in the debate, (iii) the approach seems to be linked to the messages of Swedish liberal/conservative parties, (iv) the political orientation of the newspapers do not influence the choice of political parties given a voice in the articles, (v) the level of connection between cabon trading/carbon offsetting and sustainable development varies among the articles.