Climate change communication – success or failure?

Climate Change Communication – Success or Failure?

Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014

Sir Mark Walport, Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government

Why do we communicate climate science?

Presentation title - edit in Header and Footer

…and to counter misinformation

To inform…

2 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014



To aid policy and decision making


Credit: Reuters



To empower individual decision-making


Credit: John Lamb/GETTY Credit: Carbon Trust Credit: Ludovic Hirlimann (CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Credit: Keep Britain Tidy Credit: FDIN Credit: Joybot (CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Climate change is one of the science topics people feel most well informed about


Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014

Research on public perceptions of climate change has shown:

• People are concerned about climate change, believe it is happening, but some still think it is natural variation

• View it as a distant problem affecting other people and times

• Recognise the effects (heat, melting glaciers) but don’t spontaneously connect these with anthropogenic causes (energy use, deforestation)

• Many causes (e.g. electricity use) ‘invisible’ in everyday life

• Can confuse climate change with other environmental issues (e.g. ozone)

Source: Lorenzoni and Pidgeon (2006) Climatic Change, 77, 73-95; Lorenzoni, Pidgeon and O’Connor, R. (2005) Risk Analysis, 25, 1387-1398.

But is there a disconnect between feeling well informed, and level of understanding?


Source: Ipsos MORI/Cardiff University/UKERC, 2013


And while there is scientific consensus that the climate is changing, among the public there is

more doubt


Levels of concern about climate change among the public have also dropped


2005:82% concerned

2010:71%concerned

2013:60% concerned

Source: Ipsos MORI/Cardiff University/UKERC, 2013

Where do the public get their scientific information from?

Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014

Eighth in Google’s list of top ten most searched ‘what is…?’ questions in 2013

Traditional media dominates, but on-line media also has an important role


Digital media offers new opportunities for engagement between scientists and the public

www.myclimateandme.com

There was a large (but short-lived) peak in on-line conversation about climate change when the

IPCC WGI report published


Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014 - social listening Q4 (Sept to Dec) 2013 (BIS/Ipsos MORI)

With a strong

traditional news

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• Discussion of science issues online often takes place among the pre-engaged, who already hold strong views. Even the most animated Twitter debate is unlikely to reach many people who are not already interested.

• Much online debate is partisan. Where people in online conversations cited scientific evidence, it was usually to shore up ethical or political arguments.

• The messenger matters. Many of the debates around some of the more contentious topics boiled down to discussions of scientific authority. People argued over what this actually meant as well as who possessed it.

• Trust is likely to be highest in organisations seen as independent and scientists aligned with them.

• Much on-line conversation consists of links back to traditional media sources – the BBC and traditional media in particular, but also the more accessible specialist media.

• Science alone isn’t enough. Communication which is visually interesting, humorous, or relevant to people’s daily lives, is more ‘shareable’.


Social listening provides insights for on-line science engagement

Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014 - social listening (BIS/Ipsos MORI)

Source: Shuckburgh, Robison, Pidgeon, 2012 (LWEC/DECC)

The messenger matters: Scientists have a responsibility to communicate the science of

climate change

Percentage who trust various authority groups to give correct information on climate change


Political messages also matter: ‘Elite cues’


Credit: westerndailypress.co.uk

Effective communication requires an understanding of your audience

Source: Rankmaniac, 2012



“If you say the world is going to end, people switch off thinking ‘here they go again, trying to sell us something’.”Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield

(Shuckburgh et al, 2012)

“If you say the world is going to end, people switch off thinking ‘here they go again, trying to sell us something’.”Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield

(Shuckburgh et al, 2012)

Framing matters:Positive or negative framing (and values emphasised) can

influence how information is assimilated


Locality specific information has more resonance


“If it’s local to you it’s definitely more interesting because you can identify with it.”Focus group participant, Newcastle (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)

“If it’s local to you it’s definitely more interesting because you can identify with it.”Focus group participant, Newcastle (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)

Perception of future risk is influenced by experience


Source: Defra/Ipsos MORI/AEA Technology, 2013

Perception of future risk is influenced by experience


Source: Defra/Ipsos MORI/AEA Technology, 2013

Language matters: The need for scientific precision needs to be balanced with

the need to be understood by non-specialists


Source: Somerville and Hassol, Communicating the science of climate change, Physics Today, October 2011


• Climate change is happening

• We are causing it

• It’s likely to be bad

• Scientists overwhelmingly agree on the first three points

• There are things which can be done (although we may legitimately disagree on what precisely)

Leiserowitz argues that climate change communication should contain five key messages:

Narrative matters


“I almost feel like a lot of people writing newspapers nowadays have forgotten the art of story telling – telling

where they are, telling you what’s going on in the middle and concluding.”

Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)

“I almost feel like a lot of people writing newspapers nowadays have forgotten the art of story telling – telling

where they are, telling you what’s going on in the middle and concluding.”

Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)


We need to move the public debate on - from the science of climate change, to the science of

response

“I would have been interested in hearing more on the ‘how do we respond to climate change’ side of things…As a citizen I

want to know how the science knowledge can be used to make good policy.”

“I would have been interested in hearing more on the ‘how do we respond to climate change’ side of things…As a citizen I

want to know how the science knowledge can be used to make good policy.”

“Small sections relating to actions that could be taken but this section was not long enough.”“Small sections relating to actions that could be taken but this section was not long enough.”

“My only comment was that I knew much of it already, although did learn a few new specifics.”“My only comment was that I knew much of it already, although did learn a few new specifics.”

(Feedback received from talks at regional science centres)

Difficult policy issues need to be viewed through lenses

Climate Change: Challenges for Science and Policy

Parkhill et al, Transforming the Energy System – Public Values, Attitudes and Acceptability, 2013 (UKERC)


Credit: Thomas Shahan (CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0)

Reducing the use of finite resources

Reducing overall levels of energy

use

Efficient

Environmental protection

Avoiding waste

Capturing opportunities

Naturalness and Nature

Availability and Affordability

ReliabilitySafety

Autonomy and Freedom

Choice and Control

Social Justice

Fairness, Honesty & Transparency

Long-term trajectories

Interconnected

Improvement and quality

(Source: Cardiff University, 2013)

...and take account of a range of public values


Communication is a two-way process - interactive public engagement can take many

forms


www.my2050.decc.gov.uk

Climate Change Communication – Success or Failure?


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@uksciencechief

www.gov.uk/go-science

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Climate change communication – success or failure?