Emerging research themes and evolution of climate change communication research from the last twenty years

Mariya A. Kulkova 1 * , Klarisa I. Vorobyeva 2, Svetlana V. Dmitrichenkova 3, Andrey V. Korzhuev 4, Alla A. Filippova 4, Nikolai A. Kontarov 4
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1 Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, RUSSIA
2 Pacific National University, Khabarovsk, RUSSIA
3 Peoples Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Moscow, RUSSIA
4 I. M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, RUSSIA
* Corresponding Author
Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, Volume 16, Issue 3, Article No: e202639. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/18787
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This article belongs to the special issue "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Communication, Education, and Ethics in the Digital Age"

ABSTRACT

Climate change communication (CCC) is an important area of research that examines how various strategies are used to raise awareness, educate, and promote action on the impacts of climate change. Although CCC holds a significant place in the environmental communication literature, there is limited research identifying the development and key topics in this field over the past 20 years. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of research on CCC worldwide from January 2006 to December 2025. To address the research question, we used bibliometric mapping to systematically assess and visually represent the development of this research field using VOSviewer to summarize and visualize research topics and the evolution of the frontiers in CCC literature. For data collection, 825 articles in the Scopus database were analyzed. The results showed that most journals with the highest number of publications are classified as Q1 in Scopus, and co-cited documents covered the field, which began with psychological behavioral theories, developed through media ethics and framing strategies, and has evolved into a multidimensional discipline that now encompasses political and economic constraints. In addition, the results demonstrated that emerging research themes included public perceptions, psychological and demographic dynamics, policy and risk management, public opinion and public health, social media, and geographic focus. Furthermore, the results highlight a significant research gap, indicating that future studies should examine CCC in diverse cultural environments.
Keywords: climate change, communication, climate change communication, environmental communication, bibliometrics, science communication

CITATION

Kulkova, M. A., Vorobyeva, K. I., Dmitrichenkova, S. V., Korzhuev, A. V., Filippova, A. A., & Kontarov, N. A. (2026). Emerging research themes and evolution of climate change communication research from the last twenty years. Online Journal of Communication and Media Technologies, 16(3), e202639. https://doi.org/10.30935/ojcmt/18787

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