Journal article
How climate change education scholarship frames the crisis: sentiment and certainty across disciplines and climate vulnerability contexts
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol.31, pp.1-21
2026
Abstract
Climate change education in universities is often presented as a key response to the climate crisis, yet less attention has been paid to how this field is communicated in scholarly texts and to the tonal and rhetorical patterns through which climate change education is framed. We analyse 777 English-language journal article abstracts on climate change and sustainability education in higher education, published between 2015 and 2024. Using DistilBERT polarity scores, TextBlob subjectivity scores, hedging and certainty markers, and a communication-style typology, we examine abstract-level rhetorical stance as a feature of scholarly communication about climate change education. We use these indicators to assess how rhetorical features vary across disciplines and national vulnerability tiers identified through a Composite Vulnerability Score based on the INFORM Risk Index and the WorldRiskIndex. Overall, abstracts are mildly positive and relatively cautious, suggesting a relatively stable rhetorical baseline. However, this pattern is uneven. Publications associated with more climate-vulnerable countries tend to adopt more factual, certain and problem-focused framings, whereas those from less vulnerable contexts more often combine positive sentiment with evaluative or prescriptive language about pedagogy and institutional change. We situate these patterns within an information landscape shaped by climate change mis-and disinformation, highlighting that abstract-level tone and rhetorical stance can influence how climate change education scholarship is interpreted, trusted and circulated across disciplines and vulnerability contexts.
Details
- Title
- How climate change education scholarship frames the crisis: sentiment and certainty across disciplines and climate vulnerability contexts
- Authors
- Enrique de Paz Miguel (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastFrancisco Felipe Gelves-Gomez - University of TasmaniaMike Burbridge - Curtin UniversitySonja Kuzich - Curtin UniversityTheresa Ashford - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Vol.31, pp.1-21
- Publisher
- Springer Dordrecht
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11027-026-10340-2
- ISSN
- 1573-1596
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- School of Health - Biomedicine; K'gari Research Cluster; Student Services and Engagement; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991238998002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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