Researchers warn that net zero has become politicised by populists as “shorthand” for attacking climate policy.
Britain’s most dominant media outlets are failing to “join the dots” between net zero and climate change, as researchers call out a wave of “problematic” coverage.
A new analysis commissioned by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that a growing proportion of articles in UK national newspapers focusing on ‘net zero’ are omitting any reference to the climate crisis despite their inherent link.
Researchers say the findings point to a “divorcing” of climate change from the solution of preventing emissions rising, and come amid low levels of understanding around what net zero means.
The UK’s drive to net zero
In 2019, the UK passed legislation for a net zero target by 2050. This means that human-produced emissions must be balanced by greenhouse gases being removed from the atmosphere.
Net zero aims to prevent additional heat-trapping gasses from being released into the air, effectively halting global warming from accelerating. It does not mean producing no emissions at all.
The analysis found that a year before the legislation was signed, 100 per cent of articles across nine major publications mentioning the term ‘net zero’ at least three times (including in the headline) also mentioned ‘climate change’ or similar terms such as ‘global warming’.
However, by 2024, this figure had plummeted to just 59 per cent.
Which UK newspapers are ‘divorcing’ climate change?
In 2024, 323 analysed articles mentioned the term net zero at least three times, including in the headline, but failed to reference climate change or similar terms.
Around half of these (166) were written by the Telegraph. In the same year, 88 articles mentioned the term net zero at least five times without linking it back to climate change.
The Times had the lowest percentage of articles referencing climate change amongst broadsheet papers, at 64 per cent.
Researchers found “notable differences between titles” of British newspapers. For example, in the Guardian 71 per cent of 2024 articles referring to ‘net zero’ once also mention climate change. This was followed by the Times (38 per cent), the Telegraph (32 per cent), the Express (27 per cent) and the Sun (23 per cent).
Two articles in the Express, one article in the Sunday Telegraph and one article in the Telegraph referred to ‘net zero’ a total of eight times, but included no mentions of climate change.
The confusion around net zero
The analysis, which investigated search results from the Factiva news monitoring tool, comes amid public confusion around the term net zero.
Polling from Climate Barometer earlier this year found 22 per cent of those surveyed wrongly thought that net zero meant “producing no carbon emissions at all”. This rose to 41 per cent amongst participants who supported Reform UK, the right-wing populist party spearheaded by Nigel Farage.
Given the levels of uncertainty around net zero’s definition, Dr James Painter of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, who led the analysis, argues that “good journalistic practice” would include a reminder, explanation or link on how it relates to the need to reduce emissions to halt climate change.
Or, at the very least, include a simple statement outlining that “scientists say reaching net zero is essential for stopping climate change.”
Is net zero becoming a clickbait term?
Professor Chris Hilson, director of the Reading Centre for Climate and Justice, says net zero has become politicised by populists as “shorthand” for attacking climate policy.
“This may explain why climate change is mentioned less often alongside it in news articles,” he adds. “Journalists writing about electric vehicles or heat pumps don’t need to mention climate change as ‘net zero’ alone is enough to generate polarising clicks.”
Hilson says this is a “problematic” trend as net zero is a scientifically-established target that must be achieved to stay within 2℃ of warming, as set out in the Paris Agreement.
Richard Black, former BBC environment correspondent and founding director of ECIU, says it’s a “bit odd” that newspapers are failing to link the next zero solution to climate change.
He uses the analogy of discussing the emergent benefits of taking a particular medicine without mentioning the condition it was developed to tackle in the first place.
Euronews Green has approached all of the mentioned UK newspapers for comment. This article will be updated if they respond.
