Sen / Ray Adapting to a Changing Climate: Demographic Transition in Developing Nations

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 979-8-89881-666-7
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 250 Seiten

Adapting to a Changing Climate is an interdisciplinary edited volume that explores the far-reaching impacts of climate change on ecological systems, economies, societies, and governance structures. It brings together diverse scholarly perspectives to understand how climate challenges intersect with development, innovation, and sustainability, especially in developing and emerging economies.
The book covers themes such as digital activism, climate data analytics, sustainable finance, green human resource management, entrepreneurship, agriculture, migration, consumption behaviour, waste management, and policy responses. With a strong focus on India and South Asia, it also includes global comparisons to highlight both shared vulnerabilities and region-specific adaptation strategies. The chapters combine theoretical insights, empirical studies, and case-based analyses to present practical, research-driven solutions for climate resilience.
Key Features:
-An interdisciplinary analysis of the impact of climate change and its responses.
-Focuses on sustainability, governance, and socio-economic resilience
-Integrates empirical research with practical case studies and policy analysis
-Strong emphasis on Indian and South Asian contexts with global comparisons and action-oriented insights for adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sen, Ruchi L

Sen, Saurabh

Ray, Nilanjan

Leseproben

The “Greta” Phenomenon: A Sentiment Analysis of Climate Change Discourse on Instagram Through Data Mining

Swati Agarwal1, *, Nitesh Tripathi2

1 Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Adamas University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

2 Department of Mass Communication, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Climate change is a major threat to sustainability and is one of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, intended to be achieved by 2030. It has been a major concern for decades, but in recent years the issue has accelerated as climatic conditions have worsened. However, social media, a platform of the masses, has apparently come to its rescue. Social media platforms, such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, are highly effective at amplifying voices and messages, enabling individuals to raise certain issues and seek redress. This is the ultimate power of social media, and time and again, it has been harnessed to bring revolutionary changes worldwide. One such revolution was led by Greta Thunberg, a Swedish environmental activist who initiated a protest in front of the Swedish Parliament and soon became a renowned figure worldwide. She posted images of the protest on Instagram, which were then shared by other influential activists, helping to spread her message globally. Netizens began discussing this on social media and shared their concerns over climate, leading to a snowballing of opinions. The impact of this Internet activism was so significant that world leaders ultimately paid attention to her demands. The campaign on sustainability and climate change by Greta Thunberg took the internet by storm, and she was featured on Time magazine as the ‘Person of the Year’ in 2019, making her the most famous teen of her time. The campaign, ‘School Strike for Climate,’ outside the Swedish Parliament in 2018, was aimed at prompting the government to reduce carbon emissions, and it spiraled into a larger movement that pushed world leaders to commit to environmental conservation. Greta’s activism advanced through her demonstrations and speeches, gathering momentum and reaching 5 million Twitter followers to mobilize public opinion. In this context, the study was conducted to assess the potential of social media and to harness its power to bring long-lasting change toward a better future. This chapter examines Instagram posts related to climate change discussion threads generated by various hashtags associated with the Greta Thunberg campaign and seeks to ascertain how they created a favorable discourse for environmental conservation.

Keywords: Climate change, Greta Thunberg, Internet activism, Sustainability.

* Corresponding author Swati Agarwal: Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Adamas University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India; E-mail: [e-mail]

INTRODUCTION

The media is one of the most powerful tools for propagating messages and mobilizing the masses around a particular social cause. It has been found that media possesses the capability and foresight to spark major social revolutions and elicit the desired response from society toward a goal that improves the state of affairs. It plays a crucial role in raising awareness of environmental issues, as systematic, comprehensive coverage can inform people about environmental concerns that are sometimes laden with jargon and complex facts, which might otherwise lead them to ignore the issue altogether. In such a scenario, the media becomes the primary tool people rely on to obtain information and interpretations of environmental issues. The media explicitly helps them understand how these matters are related to the social, economic, and political structures of society.

Environmental concerns have always been pertinent and central to societal attention, but due to the technical nature of much of the data involved, such issues sometimes receive limited coverage in mainstream media and fail to capture the audience’s sustained interest. Activism to protect the environment is not new; it has existed since ancient times, and the media has always served as a conduit for major transformation. With the rise of digital media, the public can now directly influence society. This phenomenon is today termed Internet activism or social media activism, a prevalent form of advocating for a particular cause or combating injustice inflicted on marginalized people.

DEFINITION AND MEANING - INTERNET ACTIVISM

Internet activism is an organized public effort to have the demands of society addressed by authorities or decision-makers with the support of the internet. It is a collective claim on an issue of importance to the public, using internet technology to create awareness and mobilize support. Internet activism represents advocacy for a cause that leverages social media channels, where hashtags are pivotal in mobilizing society and carrying out movements. This is often also called hashtag activism or social media activism, as social media offers a platform for people to reach a larger audience. Awareness is created on social media by showing solidarity through the use of hashtags, posts, and campaigns (Reid & Sehl, 2020).

Internet justice contributes to the strength of civil society and helps ensure that the power of the state and other institutions is not misused to exploit people, while making sure that the issues of the public are addressed by the state and lawmakers. Civil society thus works to ensure that justice prevails in society (Levine, 2000). Before the advent of digital means, mobilization and activism for a cause were carried out through interest groups or non-governmental organizations, which required substantial monetary resources, media outreach, legal action, and extensive lobbying. However, the ‘diffusion’ of digital technologies has mitigated these difficulties, and this new ‘alternative model’ has provided faster and more cost-effective ways to organize support for a cause (Hopke, 2017).

ROLE OF MEDIA IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

In India, in the 1920s, the Tata group planned to build a dam on the Mula and Nila rivers in Western Maharashtra. Although the dam was eventually constructed, local people protested its construction under the leadership of Pandurang Mahadev (Senapati) Bapat and V.M. Bhuskute; this movement became popularly known as the ‘Mulshi Satyagraha’. The protesters argued that the dam would submerge several villages and disrupt the ecology and local habitats. Many women participated in the protests and were also jailed. The Satyagraha received widespread attention due to coverage by the Bombay Chronicle, which regularly reported on the issue, discussing both the land rights of peasants and the need for electricity for Bombay, as well as empathetically addressing the concerns of those displaced from their ancestral lands.

Another notable event is the Chipko movement, a nonviolent social and ecological movement initiated by villages, primarily women, in India during the 1970s. Villagers in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand were heavily dependent on the forests for survival, including food, timber for fuel, water purification, soil stabilization, and agriculture. A government policy barred villagers from accessing the forests. Excessive deforestation led to soil erosion, depleted water resources, flooding of adjoining areas, and reduced agricultural yields. As the villagers and forests were interdependent, the destruction of forests threatened the entire ecosystem. This led to the ‘hug a tree’ Chipko movement, initiated by local women, such as Gaura Devi, Suraksha Devi, and others, which employed methods of Satyagraha to prevent deforestation. The idea was that humans would hug trees if loggers attempted to cut them down, thereby preventing logging and forcing the government to revise its decision. This peaceful protest received widespread media coverage.

In the 1970s, the Kerala State Electricity Board proposed a hydroelectric project on the Kunthipuzha River through Silent Valley, which would have submerged 8.3 sq km of rainforest, home to thousands of rare flora and fauna. Local protests evolved into a large movement, with the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) playing a significant role in raising awareness about the ecological importance and biodiversity of the region. Consequently, the government declared Silent Valley a National Park and incorporated it into the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. These environmental movements received adequate media coverage, helping to increase public awareness and sparking debates over ‘development versus environment’. This momentum may have contributed to the establishment of the Department of Environment in the 1980s. Environmental journalism also gained prominence, with the launch of Sanctuary Asia in 1981 by Bittu Sehgal. The renowned columnist S.G. Warty further popularized environmental reporting, and the media covered numerous environmental cases, contributing to the growth of environmental journalism.

In 2003, following a Supreme Court judgment, environmental studies were...