The Guardian’s climate coverage ignores key issues like overconsumption and farming.

News shapes how we think about the climate crisis. Researchers wanted to see what one major newspaper, The Guardian, actually focuses on when it writes about climate change. They used artificial intelligence models to scan through thousands of articles published between 2010 and 2025. The tools evaluated how well the stories covered real scientific causes, impacts, ways to cut emissions, and ways to adapt to changes. They found that reporting jumped significantly after 2018 and stayed high. However, the news mostly highlights fossil fuels and clean power. Crucial topics like farming, overconsumption, wealth gaps in emissions, and economic growth appear far less often. Articles also give much less space to adapting to climate change than to its causes or impacts.

Why it matters

Media coverage shapes what the public and politicians treat as urgent. This study reveals that even The Guardian, known for strong climate journalism, gives less attention to adaptation and underreports issues like overconsumption and agriculture. That means readers get an incomplete picture of the full range of changes needed.

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