Communicating climate change: history, challenges, process and future directions

Abstract

Since anthropogenic climate change first emerged on the public agenda in the midto-late 1980s, public communication of climate change and-more recently-the question of how to communicate it most effectively have witnessed a steep rise. This paper synthesizes what is known, presumed, and still unknown about how to effectively communicate this problem. An introductory historical overview of climate change communication is followed by a discussion of the challenges that communicators face in trying to convey the issue (invisibility of causes, distant impacts, lack of immediacy and direct experience of the impacts, lack of gratification for taking mitigative actions, disbelief in human's global influence, complexity and uncertainty, inadequate signals indicating the need for change, perceptual limits and self-interest). The core of the paper focuses on key aspects of the communication process (purpose and scope of the communication, audience, framing, messages, messengers, modes and channels of communication, and assessing the outcomes and effectiveness of a communication). These elements are placed in relationship to several contextual factors that affect the communication process. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research on climate change communication. 

Impacts of adaptation and responsibility framings on attitudes towards climate change mitigation

“…A growing body of work suggests that messages should be tailored according to the understanding, beliefs and values of the audience (Moser 2010), and our study suggests that this includes whether to stress adaptation or mitigation if the aim is to promote (support for) mitigation action -or at least if there is a concern that this should not be undermined. Mitigation appears to be a strategy supported more by those with high concern about climate change; whereas those less concerned may find adaptation strategies less threatening and more aligned with their beliefs.…”

Local is not always better: the impact of climate information on values, behavior and policy support

“…This supports the concern that a distal view of the consequences of climate change leads people to discount the need for action. Thus, researchers have called for communication strategies that anchor the discussion by highlighting local climate change impacts (e.g., Leiserowitz 2007;Moser 2010). Putting such general recommendations to empirical test, our data suggest that the effectiveness of providing local climate information to elicit proenvironmental behavior and policy support may well depend on people's underlying value orientations.…”

Climate Change Communication in Portugal

“…Its complex, multi-scalar, and multidimensional nature means that "news pegs" have to be found in different types of issues and occurrences. With "invisible causes" (to our senses), "distant impacts," and "delayed or absent gratification for taking action" (Moser, 2010), climate change may indeed appear difficult to grasp. Back in 1990, Wilkins and Patterson noted that, to become news, climate change (and other slow-development environmental problems) had to "find an event."…”

“…Although it is usually accepted that anthropogenic climate change emerged in public agendas in the 1980s (Moser, 2010), suspicions and worries about changes in the planet's climate due to human activity had been raised among scientists for several decades before (Weart, 2008). A study of environmental content in Portuguese television (Schmidt, 2003) from 1956 (when the national public broadcaster RTP initiated its transmissions) to 1995 provided an overview of how climate-related contents evolved.…”