Do scientists have a responsibility to provide climate change expertise to mitigation and adaptation strategies? Perspectives from climate professionals

Abstract

Although the scientific community has reached a consensus that anthropogenic climate change is a severe and pressing issue, climate change remains a contentious debate with the United States public. Through a survey ( N = 273), we explored climate professionals’ perspectives on their role and responsibility to promote climate change adaptation/mitigation strategies related to agroecosystems. They believed that climate professionals have a social responsibility to provide scientific input to both policymakers and the public. There was strong agreement that media, political, and public support is necessary for development, and near unanimous agreement for implementation, of climate change mitigation/adaptation strategies. This study highlights the climate professionals’ perceptions of their responsibility to provide scientific input, but also demonstrates that they believe the responsibility does not rest solely on their shoulders. Further research should explore scientists’ perceptions of their and others’ policy roles and scientists’ interactions with different influencers of adaptation/mitigation policy.

A State of Emergency or Business as Usual in Climate Science Communication? A Three-Dimensional Perspective on the Role Perceptions of Climate Scientists, Climate Journalists, and Citizens

“…It could be particularly interesting to do a similar study in an American context to see how actors there interpret their roles under circumstances of intense political polarization and widespread distrust of science and the news media. As mentioned earlier, studies show that U.S. climate scientists have a more accepting attitude toward scientific advocacy than the one espoused by their Danish counterparts in the focus groups (Boykoff & Oonk, 2020;Getson et al, 2021), while the findings of Kotcher and Myers (Kotcher et al, 2017) indicate that American citizens are more tolerant of normative communication from climate scientists than the representatives of the Danish public in this study.…”

“…Most climate scientists and climate journalists did not find advocacy fitting, while the latter group largely accepted the scientists’ monopoly on expertise. That climate journalists are dismissive of advocacy accords with contemporary Anglo-American studies (Gibson et al, 2016; Hibberd & Nguyen, 2013; Hiles & Hinnant, 2014), while the most recent scholarship on scientific advocacy indicates that climate scientists are increasingly integrating activistic communication into their self-understandings (Boykoff & Oonk, 2020; Getson et al, 2021). The discrepancy between the findings in the present study and the American ones might be testament to the effect that the strongly polarized political debate on climate change in the United States has on the role perception of climate scientists.…”

“…The contemporary literature on the role perception of climate scientists has primarily focused on their views regarding the appropriateness of advocacy. It provides examples of climate scientists being strongly inclined toward political neutrality (Wilke & Morton, 2015a, 2015b), while others find division on the question (Duarte & Eide, 2018; Sharman & Howarth, 2017) as well as clear support for scientific activism (Boykoff & Oonk, 2020; Getson et al, 2021). Advocacy is also a prevalent theme in recent explorations of climate journalists’ role perceptions.…”

Understanding scientists’ communication challenges at the intersection of climate and agriculture

“…Some critics have suggested scientists should only conduct research [31]; however, scientists are key actors in the communication of their research to lay audiences [26], are encouraged to increase their presence in the public sphere [32] and increasing evidence suggests scientists see themselves in an advocacy role [22]. Recommendations to become an effective communicator are often distilled into three main messages: participate in formal communication training, understand the audience, and frame the message appropriately [26,[33][34][35].…”

“…A survey of 3,748 U.S.-based scientists connected to the American Association for the Advancement of science found almost all (98%) scientists have interacted with citizens from time to time and over half (51%) have communicated research findings with reporters [ 21 ]. Although more scientists are making efforts to communicate with public audiences and the media through various modes of communication [ 22 ], not all scientists are experts in the science behind effective communication [ 23 ]. This becomes apparent when exploring models of communication between scientists (information sources or messengers) and the public (intended audience or recipients of the message).…”