COP29, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, brings together world leaders, scientists, and activists. It also brings a flood of media coverage and online conversations that often spark controversy and public attention.
The conference, which began on Nov 11th, is now nearing its end. As it wraps up, we’ve looked back at the top coverage from the first week of meetings, spanning web articles and social media posts.
The start of the conference saw the biggest spike in media coverage, with publishers like the BBC gaining considerable attention for its live, ongoing coverage of the event. Within the first week there were 47k articles published about COP29, and over 288k engagements with those articles. In contrast though, total engagement with posts on X was significantly higher than engagement with web articles, though the peak actually came slightly later on X than on web.
As seen in our enhanced Timeline above, posts about the conference on X generated over 1.12 million engagements, nearly 4x the amount than that of web articles. Despite the high volume of media coverage, it’s impossible to overlook the dominant role social platforms have played in driving conversations about the conference, particularly when it comes to amplifying criticism over general reporting.
This was certainly true for Keir Starmer, with the UK Prime Minister fueling controversy for his pledge to cut UK emissions with a “shift away from meat and dairy” and “less flying”, all while having sent 470 delegates to the conference.
While lecturing the world on climate change, Keir Starmer has sent a staggering 470 delegates to COP29, creating a 5,000-mile carbon footprint and costing millions in taxpayer money. https://t.co/vcx0scZhwi
— Toby Young (@toadmeister) November 17, 2024
Keir Starmer has announced a target to cut UK emissions by 81% by 2035 whilst attending the #COP29 in Baku.
— James Melville 🚜 (@JamesMelville) November 12, 2024
This includes…
“A 20% shift away from meat and dairy products in the next five years, and less flying.” pic.twitter.com/B6KIFdjsdV
These were two of the top ten posts about COP29 on X, and together earned over 27k engagements, with a slew of comments about the hypocrisy of his statement. Other top posts on X included one about Turkey reportedly blocking Israel’s president from flying through their airspace to get to the conference, and Wide Awake Media sharing a video of attendees eating meat.
The higher interest on X doesn’t mean that no web coverage managed to break through the noise. There were still several articles that earned thousands of engagements, and this can mostly be seen in the first few days of reporting.
Besides the BBC’s live reporting, which was the most engaged article overall (13.3k), international coverage also made it into the top articles. France Bleu reported on the declining health of French forests (2.7k), and Metropoles wrote about a panel discussing environmental preservation in Brazil (2.7k).
Something different: We don’t usually see brands insert themselves into events like COP29, but it seems that in 2024 there is a place for ones who have built embracing social responsibility into their brand.
@benandjerrys The UN's COP29 global climate conference meets this week to talk climate action. NOW is the time to make your voice heard for a sustainable energy future! #cop29 #climateaction #climateactionnow ♬ original sound - benandjerrys
Ben & Jerry’s used this year’s conference as a way to educate consumers about how the effects of climate change could hinder ice cream production, and their posts were some of the most engaged on other social platforms during this time period, with 242k engagements on TikTok, and over 80k on Instagram.
While traditional media coverage remains vital for global events like COP29, it’s clear that social platforms have become central to driving conversations and shifting how they are discussed by the public, publishers, and even brands in 2024.
For more on how you can monitor world events with our enhanced Timeline, chat with us today.
