Abstract This study investigates metaphorical patterns in news discourses on COP27 in the New York Times and China Daily and aims to explore how metaphors are used to negotiate responsibility and commitments to climate change. News discourse plays a crucial role in shaping real-world events and reporting on the Conferences of the Parties (COP) on climate change is therefore crucial for fostering transparency in international climate politics (Gupta 2010). The results show how metaphors are used as argumentative devices, allowing for indirect comparisons that can be extended, reversed, and twisted (A’Beckett 2012). Responsibilities are metaphorically attributed in COP27 reports and reveal how the newspapers dialogically modify metaphorical frames (e.g., fight), with different countries playing various roles in the frame (e.g., victims or culprits).