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What Drives Policy Attention to Climate Change in China? An Empirical Analysis through the Lens of People’s Daily

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  • Shiwei Fan

    (School of Government, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China)

  • Lan Xue

    (School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Jianhua Xu

    (Department of Environmental Management, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China)

Abstract

Addressing climate change requires sustained effort from all levels of society. Garnering and maintaining the attention of policy elites can be optimized through understanding what drives their attention to climate change. This study goes beyond the focus on democratic regimes to unravel the dynamics of attention to climate change in China. To do this, this study analyzed the content of articles published in People’s Daily from 1985 to 2013. Drawing upon the information processing theory of policy dynamics, we used the time-series regression to examine the effects of information flows of different types on attention to climate change. We found that events such as important international conferences on climate change, domestic attention to environmental issues other than climate change, and pressure from abroad have a significant influence on attention to climate change in China. In addition, these factors were found to have different effects over time, which has received little attention to date.

Suggested Citation

  • Shiwei Fan & Lan Xue & Jianhua Xu, 2018. "What Drives Policy Attention to Climate Change in China? An Empirical Analysis through the Lens of People’s Daily," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-20, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:9:p:2977-:d:165020
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