ABSTRACT
Research on climate change in Botswana has generally focused on exploring the extent to which Botswana has been affected by this global challenge. While this issue remains a global one, questions on how it is framed and dealt with in various local contexts still require further exploration. Among other things, scholars have pointed out that the media plays a crucial role in framing climate change discourses and setting a broad agenda relating to local responses to the urgency of climate change challenges. Drawing on the data collected from two Botswanan print media, Mmegi and Sunday Standard, this chapter critically reviews and analyses various framings of climate change circulated within the Botswanan print media sphere. We argue that the Botswanan print media representation of climate change has employed the following thematic frames: repackaging of a global issue, metaphoric framing of climate change, and representation of local realities. We further suggest that while media representation of climate change has the potential of raising awareness on the issue, the urgency of communicating climate change in Botswana requires a shift from an informative model of communication to a transformative agenda.
