Instagram as an Arena of Climate Change Communication and Mobilization: A Discourse Network Analysis of COP26

Conference of the Parties (COP) meetings on climate change are opportunities for social movements and other non-state actors to engage in climate change communication and mobilization. We focus on Instagram as an online arena of climate communication and mobilization during COP26, held in Glasgow. Instagram is a distinct arena for eco-political communication and activism because of its visual focus and generally younger user base. Using a Discourse Network Analysis approach, we analyse 2417 posts to examine relationships and alignments across imagery, discourses, and actors. Instagram serves as a space to articulate critical counter-discourses of climate justice, Indigenous rights, and individual action as a response to perceived failures of COP processes and formal agreements. At the same time, images of celebrities and politicians structure much of the Instagram discourse network. This highlights how Instagram contributes to a celebritization of climate politics, with individual political actors positioned as climate heroes or villains.