IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v202y2025ics0301421525000990.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A computational analysis of the media coverage of the European Parliament's ‘green' Designation on sustainable energy and climate change

Author

Listed:
  • Zeler, Ileana
  • Rodriguez-Amat, Joan Ramon
  • Muhammad Amir, Riasat

Abstract

Energy is pivotal to the sustainable development agenda for 2030. In this context, nuclear energy emerges as a potential solution for renewable energy development and carbon dioxide mitigation. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 exacerbated global energy concerns, leading to a surge in fuel prices and an economic slowdown, prompting the European Parliament to designate nuclear energy investments as "green." Despite the potential of nuclear energy in advancing sustainability goals, public perception, influenced by historical negative narratives and media coverage, remains a challenge. This article examines the impact of the European Parliament's decision on the news flow and coverage about sustainability, climate change, and nuclear energy in the global media. By analysing seven months of global news coverage, a total of 7822 news stories in English were selected. Through descriptive analysis and unsupervised topic modelling Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) machine learning techniques, this study explores trends in news content and coverage, shedding light on the intersection of energy policies, and media coverage.

Suggested Citation

  • Zeler, Ileana & Rodriguez-Amat, Joan Ramon & Muhammad Amir, Riasat, 2025. "A computational analysis of the media coverage of the European Parliament's ‘green' Designation on sustainable energy and climate change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:202:y:2025:i:c:s0301421525000990
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114592
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421525000990
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114592?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dani Madrid-Morales & Joan Ramon Rodríguez-Amat & Peggy Lindner, 2023. "A Computational Mapping of Online News Deserts on African News Websites," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 330-342.
    2. Jeff Tollefson, 2022. "What the war in Ukraine means for energy, climate and food," Nature, Nature, vol. 604(7905), pages 232-233, April.
    3. Jessica E. Boscarino, 2019. "From Three Mile Island to Fukushima: the impact of analogy on attitudes toward nuclear power," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(1), pages 21-42, March.
    4. David L. McCollum & Wenji Zhou & Christoph Bertram & Harmen-Sytze Boer & Valentina Bosetti & Sebastian Busch & Jacques Després & Laurent Drouet & Johannes Emmerling & Marianne Fay & Oliver Fricko & Sh, 2018. "Author Correction: Energy investment needs for fulfilling the Paris Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 3(8), pages 699-699, August.
    5. Yuru Guan & Jin Yan & Yuli Shan & Yannan Zhou & Ye Hang & Ruoqi Li & Yu Liu & Binyuan Liu & Qingyun Nie & Benedikt Bruckner & Kuishuang Feng & Klaus Hubacek, 2023. "Burden of the global energy price crisis on households," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 8(3), pages 304-316, March.
    6. Yue, Xianghua & Peng, Michael Yao-Ping & Anser, Muhammad Khalid & Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Haffar, Mohamed & Zaman, Khalid, 2022. "The role of carbon taxes, clean fuels, and renewable energy in promoting sustainable development: How green is nuclear energy?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 167-178.
    7. Huang, Lei & He, Ruoying & Yang, Qianqi & Chen, Jin & Zhou, Ying & Hammitt, James K. & Lu, Xi & Bi, Jun & Liu, Yang, 2018. "The changing risk perception towards nuclear power in China after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 294-301.
    8. repec:osf:osfxxx:69kje_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Caterina Lucarelli & Camilla Mazzoli & Michela Rancan & Sabrina Severini, 2020. "Classification of Sustainable Activities: EU Taxonomy and Scientific Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-25, August.
    10. Kanwal, Saira & Mehran, Muhammad Taqi & Hassan, Muhammad & Anwar, Mustafa & Naqvi, Salman Raza & Khoja, Asif Hussain, 2022. "An integrated future approach for the energy security of Pakistan: Replacement of fossil fuels with syngas for better environment and socio-economic development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    11. Aktar, Asikha & Alam, Md. Mahmudul & Al-Amin, Abul Quasem, 2021. "Global Economic Crisis, Energy Use, CO2 Emissions and Policy Roadmap amid COVID-19," OSF Preprints 69kje, Center for Open Science.
    12. Kong, Nancy & Salzmann, Oliver & Steger, Ulrich & Ionescu-Somers, Aileen, 2002. "Moving Business/Industry Towards Sustainable Consumption:: The Role of NGOs," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 109-127, April.
    13. Kim, Younghwan & Kim, Minki & Kim, Wonjoon, 2013. "Effect of the Fukushima nuclear disaster on global public acceptance of nuclear energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 822-828.
    14. Helena Atteneder & Joan Ramon Rodriguez-Amat, 2024. "Ideologies in Geospatial Futurism: A Computational and Critical Discourse Inquiry Into the ArcGIS and ESRI-Blogs," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 12.
    15. Zakari, Abdulrasheed & Khan, Irfan & Tan, Duojiao & Alvarado, Rafael & Dagar, Vishal, 2022. "Energy efficiency and sustainable development goals (SDGs)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    16. Dani Madrid-Morales & Joan Ramon Rodríguez-Amat & Peggy Lindner, 2023. "A Computational Mapping of Online News Deserts on African News Websites," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 330-342.
    17. Edmund A. Spindler, 2013. "The History of Sustainability The Origins and Effects of a Popular Concept," Springer Books, in: Ian Jenkins & Roland Schröder (ed.), Sustainability in Tourism, edition 127, pages 9-31, Springer.
    18. Ropret Homar, Aja & Knežević Cvelbar, Ljubica, 2021. "The effects of framing on environmental decisions: A systematic literature review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    19. Ji, Xiangfeng & Chen, Xueqi & Mirza, Nawazish & Umar, Muhammad, 2021. "Sustainable energy goals and investment premium: Evidence from renewable and conventional equity mutual funds in the Euro zone," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    20. Tanja Perko & Peter Thijssen & Catrinel Turcanu & Baldwin Van Gorp, 2014. "Insights into the reception and acceptance of risk messages: nuclear emergency communication," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(9), pages 1207-1232, October.
    21. Arslan, Ahmad & Haapanen, Lauri & Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, Pia & Tarba, Shlomo Y. & Alon, Ilan, 2021. "Climate change, consumer lifestyles and legitimation strategies of sustainability-oriented firms," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 720-730.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Vladimir M. Cvetković & Adem Öcal & Yuliya Lyamzina & Eric K. Noji & Neda Nikolić & Goran Milošević, 2021. "Nuclear Power Risk Perception in Serbia: Fear of Exposure to Radiation vs. Social Benefits," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Wang, Jing & Li, Yazhou & Wu, Jianlin & Gu, Jibao & Xu, Shuo, 2020. "Environmental beliefs and public acceptance of nuclear energy in China: A moderated mediation analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    3. Fangying Liu & Chi Wei Su & Meng Qin & Muhammad Umar, 2023. "Is renewable energy a path towards sustainable development?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(5), pages 3869-3880, October.
    4. Sadiq, Muhammad & Nawaz, Muhammad Atif & Sharif, Arshian & Hanif, Sobia, 2024. "Bridging green supply chain practices and environmental performance in Chinese semiconductor sector: With the role of energy efficiency and green HRM," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    5. Małgorzata Sztorc, 2022. "The Implementation of the European Green Deal Strategy as a Challenge for Energy Management in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-21, April.
    6. Alba Rocio Gutierrez Garzon & Pete Bettinger & Jacek Siry & Bin Mei & Jesse Abrams, 2019. "The Terms Foresters and Planners in the United States Use to Infer Sustainability in Forest Management Plans: A Survey Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-20, December.
    7. Gumber, Anurag & Zana, Riccardo & Steffen, Bjarne, 2024. "A global analysis of renewable energy project commissioning timelines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 358(C).
    8. Lam, J. & Cheung, L. & Han, Y. & Wang, S., 2018. "China’s Response to Nuclear Safety Post-Fukushima: Genuine or Rhetoric?," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1866, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Leurent, Martin & Jasserand, Frédéric & Locatelli, Giorgio & Palm, Jenny & Rämä, Miika & Trianni, Andrea, 2017. "Driving forces and obstacles to nuclear cogeneration in Europe: Lessons learnt from Finland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 138-150.
    10. Pacelli, Vincenzo & Di Tommaso, Caterina & Foglia, Matteo & Povia, Maria Melania, 2025. "Spillover effects between energy uncertainty and financial risk in the Eurozone banking sector," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    11. Nicholas Bamegne Nambie & Philomena Dadzie & Dorcas Oye Haywood-Dadzie, 2023. "Measuring the Effect of Income Inequality, Financial Inclusion, Investment, and Unemployment, on Economic Growth in Africa: A Moderating Role of Digital Financial Technology," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(4), pages 111-124, July.
    12. Hilary Byerly Flint & Paul Cada & Patricia A. Champ & Jamie Gomez & Danny Margoles & James R. Meldrum & Hannah Brenkert-Smith, 2022. "You vs. us: framing adaptation behavior in terms of private or social benefits," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 174(1), pages 1-17, September.
    13. Li, Tianyu & Yue, Xiao-Guang & Waheed, Humayun & Yıldırım, Bilal, 2023. "Can energy efficiency and natural resources foster economic growth? Evidence from BRICS countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    14. Szczygielski, Jan Jakub & Charteris, Ailie & Obojska, Lidia & Brzeszczyński, Janusz, 2025. "Energy in turmoil: Industry resilience to uncertainty during the global energy crisis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 389(C).
    15. Polzin, Friedemann & Sanders, Mark & Serebriakova, Alexandra, 2021. "Finance in global transition scenarios: Mapping investments by technology into finance needs by source," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    16. Qiang Wang & Yuanfan Li & Rongrong Li, 2024. "Rethinking the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis across 214 countries: the impacts of 12 economic, institutional, technological, resource, and social factors," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, December.
    17. Berenike Wiener & Georg von Schnurbein, 2023. "Foundation Investment Funds for Grant-Making Foundations in Germany: Do They Facilitate Sustainable Investing?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    18. Kourula, Arno, 2010. "Corporate engagement with non-governmental organizations in different institutional contexts--A case study of a forest products company," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 45(4), pages 395-404, October.
    19. Čábelková, Inna & Strielkowski, Wadim & Streimikiene, Dalia & Cavallaro, Fausto & Streimikis, Justas, 2021. "The social acceptance of nuclear fusion for decision making towards carbon free circular economy: Evidence from Czech Republic," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    20. Rui Jun Qin & Ho Hon Leung, 2021. "Becoming a Traditional Village: Heritage Protection and Livelihood Transformation of a Chinese Village," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-28, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:202:y:2025:i:c:s0301421525000990. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.