” It is with great curiosity the world is watching Sweden take lead in the race to save our climate” : A content analysis – the representation of climate and the environment in relation to Agenda 2030 in the Swedish government online communication

Abstract: 2022 is election year in Sweden and at the same time we are approaching year 2030 fast. Because of that, it is of interest to analyze how the Swedish government is communicating Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, with a special focus on climate and the environment, on their official Instagram account and website. This thesis performed with a qualitative content analysis aims to analyze and compare the representation of these subjects with the help of the theoretical framework of critical theory and its critical political economy of media and communication. This allows for a critical analysis of how communication is presented on the different platforms and if the main focuses differ between them. Statistics from Internetstiftelsen (2022) shows how Instagram is the main social platform used by first-time voters and therefore it is of importance to analyze the communication posted there. At the same time the Instagram posts refers to the website in some cases, hence, it is important to analyze the communication published there as well to be able to make an accurate comparison between the platforms.  The collected material consists of articles and Instagram posts that has been coded, thematized and analyzed with the help of software analyze tool. It resulted in an accurate visualization of how large percentage of the coded themes was present in the chosen material. Analyzing the material opened a discussion on how the communication does differ on the two platforms. The communication done on Instagram has a strong focus on what Sweden has done with regards to Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, what they are doing and how well they are performing. Nevertheless, it rarely discusses what Agenda 2030 is, how the SDGs are constructed or what it takes to achieve them. This information can however be found on the website, a platform which is visited less often than Instagram by first-time voters. To increase political interest and knowledge amongst the younger generation, changes in the communication must be done. Otherwise, we might see ourselves in a situation where the interest in making crucial changes decreases and thereby jeopardizes our chances of achieving Agenda 2030.