Urban areas, with dense populations and concentrated consumption, are major contributors to CO₂ emissions, accelerating the progression of the Anthropocene. In this context, low-carbon city transformation is essential for sustainability and climate resilience. This transformation is a complex process requiring collaboration across sectors and stakeholders, with media serving as a crucial communication bridge connecting government, the public, and other actors. This study uses in-depth interviews combined with systems thinking and transdisciplinary insights to analyze media coverage and its role in China’s low-carbon city transition. Based on our research on how media shapes low-carbon city transitions, there are three key takeaways:

1. Awareness without depth: Coverage is growing, but most reporting stays surface-level. Too few trained climate journalists and over-reliance on official press releases means complex phenomena rarely get proper scientific explanation.
2. Format shapes influence: Video and animation are most effective at reaching the public. But in-depth written reports are what actually influence policy decisions and industrial transformation.
3. Media as social bridge: Beyond informing, media facilitates the dialogue needed for coordinated action across government, business, NGOs and citizens. Sustained coverage can shift social norms, but climate anxiety, misinformation, and algorithmic filtering all erode trust and engagement.

The study is China-focused, but these dynamics – shallow coverage, format-dependent influence, and the tension between awareness and action- are recognizable across many countries with mixed public/commercial media, limited climate journalism training, and top-down environmental governance.

Read the full paper: Wu, Y., Martens, P. and Krafft, T. (2026) From information to engagement in the Anthropocene: media’s role in low-carbon city transformation in China. Frontiers in Climate. 8:1735834. https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2026.1735834