Narratives about Climate Change Produced in Latvian Business Environment

Description

Presentation at conference side event "Fostering action with narratives: Communicating about climate change and energy transition in politics, business, media and society"

The aim of this research is to examine what narrative entrepreneurs in Latvia are creating by analyzing their marketing communication. To explore public communication of the most valuable Latvian enterprises across six sectors. To compare the narratives across sectors in order to identify their alignment with the official political narrative. The period marks the beginning of change in Latvian political rhetoric advancing more ambitious climate policy both at national and the EU level. . 30 the most valuable Latvian enterprises were selected, five from each sector – energy, transport, agriculture and forestry, waste management, manufacturing, and retail, according to assessment by Prudentia & Nasdaq Riga (2021). The public communication posted in the period of 2020.-2021. at official websites of the selected enterprises was analyzed. The sample consists of 264 articles.Mixed methods research design was used, using both qualitative (narrative analysis) and quantitative (content analysis) research methods to extract the narratives.. It was concluded that all six sectors had a unifying narrative which states that Latvian business environment transforms, and entrepreneurs have already become or aim to become environmentally responsible in the nearest future. Along with other sector-specific narratives we can conclude that enterprises have the potential to lead towards low-carbon economy by constructing an enabling discursive environment. Across sectors, a narrative of corporate social responsibility dominates emphasizing that Latvian business environment transforms.. The highest attention to Climate Change related issues is being observed in the retail and waste management sectors, whereas comparatively less articles are found in energy and agriculture & forestry sectors. Narratives demonstrate that enterprises have the potential to lead towards low-carbon economy by constructing an enabling discursive environment. It is particularly important in societies with low trust to the government, where actors other than government may be more trustworthy to foster public demand and change in habits.

Period	30 Mar 2023
Event title	RSU Research week 2023: PLACES
Event type	Conference
Conference number	3
Organiser	Rīga Stradiņš University
Location	Rīga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International