Symbolising the Climate Crisis: A Semiotic Perspective on Public Discourse in Türkiye

Climate communication has emerged as a distinct form of communication, encompassing public communication activities designed to ensure that information and scientific data about climate change are disseminated in an accessible manner to society and the public. The objective of this research is to elucidate the manner in which climate change communication is constructed in the media at the semiotic level, in the context of public communication, using the local example of Türkiye. In this study, the posters published by the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change on 15 May 2024 World Climate Day to draw attention to climate change were subjected to a semiotic analysis using Roland Barthes’ concept cluster as an analytical framework. The analysis yielded three dominant themes: the Anthropocene myth, the environmental catastrophism myth and the sustainability myth. The analysis revealed that the Ministry attributed responsibility to individuals, omitted the primary sources of the problem, and employed symbols to evoke fear and emotional attachment. The expressions and symbols used in climate change posters emphasize individual change and movement, and the construction of fear appeal is focused on individuals. This study makes an original contribution to the literature in terms of understanding climate change indicators in the context of public communication, showing that individual change is focused on in creating awareness about the climate crisis. However, the examined posters did not address the destructive effects of the economic systems, government policies, and production processes that underlie the climate crisis.