Climate change communication in times of uncertainty

Abstract

The stated purpose of Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference is to 'allow in-depth discussions about education and communication approaches and methods to inform and raise awareness about climate change, and hence support the search for global and regional solutions for the impacts climate change will have on Commonwealth nations'. It aims to make a contribution to (1) changing perceptions, attitudes and behaviours through education and communication for climate change, (2) design and methodology for communicating awareness about climate change and adaptation and mitigation activity: potentials, challenges, problems, and barriers, (3) climate change communication initiatives and projects implemented across the Commonwealth by national and international stakeholders, (4) exchange of climate change information amongst government and non-government organisations within the Commonwealth, and (5) climate change, the Millennium Development Goals, and Environmental Sustainability.In this presentation we focus mainly on aims (1), (2) and (4). We first examine the Port of Spain document for its climate change sentiment and action content (Slides 2 and 3) and find the identified sentiment and action consistent with widely accepted scientific explanations of anthropogenic climate change (Slide 4). We then examine climate change uncertainty and complexity post COP 15 (Slide 5) and its impact on Port of Spain sentiment and action (Slide 6). We continue in Slides 7 and 8 to discuss Port of Spain communication strategy post COP 15 and in Slide 9 we provide some specific insights from the climate change literature to complement the general interpretation of climate change communication issues provided prior to Slide 9. We find that climate change communication is essential but that as a new art it has yet to learn much of its own trade, and that whatever the state of its own art, it is likely to face challenging systemic and sociopolitical blocks to communication.