UK broadcast coverage shifted sharply towards fossil fuels after the start of the Iran war, with only modest increases in renewable energy reporting and minimal links to climate change.
Net Zero: Mentioned Often, Explained Rarely
An analysis of early morning and 10pm TV news programmes found that the term “net zero” is routinely reported without explanation or context.
by Rosie Frost (Journalism Insights Analyst), Alina Sandauer (Content Analyst) & Dr Lissa O’Reilly (Content Analyst)
11 March 2026
Credit: Rory Tucker/Unsplash
The term has become a central feature of political debate about climate policy in the UK.
Net zero refers to reducing greenhouse gas emissions as far as possible, and balancing any remaining emissions by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, so that human activities no longer add to climate change overall.
A survey of more than 1,500 UK adults by Keele University and Copper Consultancy found that nearly one in four say they have no understanding of the term. Almost half say they cannot grasp what it would mean for their own lives.
The gap is particularly pronounced among people with no formal qualifications. Only 27% of this group say they feel informed, compared with 67% of degree holders, according to the government’s DESNZ Public Attitudes Tracker.
Understanding is also lower among younger adults, with just 40–43% of 16–34-year-olds feeling informed, compared with 52–60% of those aged 35 and over.
Climate News Tracker’s analysis of programmes from the BBC, ITV and Sky News found that:
- 95% of morning and 76% of 10pm TV news programmes made no attempt to explain the term “net zero”.
- More than 70% of all programmes analysed did not link it to climate change.
The analysis examined 112 morning programmes and 38 10pm bulletins mentioning net zero across October, November and December in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Credit: Kristian Buus/10:10 Climate Action (CC BY 2.0)
Unlike online news articles, which can link readers to explainers or background information, broadcast news must provide any necessary context within the segment itself. With limited airtime and tightly structured bulletins, explanations can be difficult to include. Without them, viewers may repeatedly hear the term without understanding what it means or how it relates to efforts to tackle climate change.
The analysis found that explanations of net zero were rare in both morning and evening bulletins, and that the term was often reported without being linked to climate change.
Key findings
- Net zero is rarely explained on TV news, with 95% of morning and 76% of 10pm bulletins offering no definition.
- Most coverage lacks climate context, with over 70% of programmes failing to link net zero to climate change.
- As a result, broadcast news often frames net zero as a political issue rather than a tool for tackling climate change.
Net zero is not explained in 95% of morning programmes
Climate News Tracker analysed 112 morning programmes that mentioned net zero in October, November and December of 2023, 2024 and 2025. Just 5% made any attempt to explain the term.
Evening news performed better. Of the 38 10pm programmes mentioning net zero, 24% offered some explanation, leaving 76% of evening audiences without an explanation.
Overall, 95% of morning programmes and 76% of 10pm programmes mentioned net zero without explaining the term during the sample period.
While evening coverage was stronger, the broader pattern remains the same. Across two time slots and all three broadcasters, explaining net zero was the exception rather than the norm.
Net zero is not linked to climate change in more than 70% of morning and 10pm programmes
The picture is similar when it comes to linking net zero to climate change.
Among the 112 morning programmes that mentioned net zero, 83% made no connection to climate change. Only 17% drew any link between the topics.
Evening news again performed better, with 29% of 10pm programmes making the connection. However, 71% of evening coverage still treated net zero as a political term without environmental context.
Across the two time slots, the analysis suggests that net zero is often reported in isolation from the crisis it is designed to address.
The UK’s legally binding commitment to reach net zero by 2050 was established under the Climate Change Act 2008, which set a legal framework for cutting greenhouse gas emissions and introduced carbon budgets to keep the country on track. The 2050 net zero target was later written into law in 2019, strengthening the UK’s commitment to eliminate its contribution to global warming.
Taken together, the findings suggest that broadcast coverage often presents net zero primarily as a policy issue rather than explicitly as a tool for tackling climate change. Without explanations or clear context, audiences may hear the term repeatedly without fully understanding what it means.
Methodology
Transcripts from morning and 10pm TV news programmes from the BBC, ITV, and Sky News were searched for mentions of net zero across Q4 2023, 2024, and 2025. Q4 was chosen because this is when the annual UN climate change conference takes place, providing the best news peg and opportunity to explain the terminology.
Each result was then watched in full to note framing, format, and other editorial characteristics, including whether the programme attempted to explain the term and whether it was linked to climate change. The quality or accuracy of these explanations and links was not assessed.
Programmes were excluded where mentions appeared only in advertisements, outside the main programme, or within local news segments.
Full details of the methodology underpinning this tracker are available here.
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