Framing vulnerability: An ecolinguistic analysis of gender and climate change discourse

Abstract

This study examines how climate change organizations employ discourse strategies to highlight the vulnerability of women to climate change. It also explores how these strategies disrupt the conventional climate change narrative by integrating gender issues and emphasizing women's social and cultural experiences. The study utilizes the framework of ecolinguistics to examine narratives woven into the textual discourse. The research, based on 40 tweets from organizations such as the UN Environment Program and UN Women, offers insights into how these organizations utilize ecolinguistic techniques in communicating climate issues. The findings of the study revealed that gender intersections with other social identities determine vulnerabilities to environmental changes, as the research highlights the disproportionate impacts on women, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. This study contributes to the existing literature in terms of exploring the depiction of this issue in the Twitter discourse of international organizations.

Keywords

• Climate change
• Ecolinguistics
• Environmental communication
• Gender issues
• Vulnerability