Paul Bunje Communicating Climate Change - media.metro.net

Communicating Climate Change:

Solutions, Solutions, Solutions

Paul BunjeCenter for Climate Change Solutions

UCLA Institute of the Environment

Global WarmingCarbon Cycle

Climategate

HurricanesDroughts

Carbon Offsets

IPCC

UNFCCC

Carbon Capture and Storage

Forest Carbon

Renewable Energy

Climate Skeptics

Adaptation

Mitigation

Cap and Trade

Green Jobs

The Climate will Change

Snowmageddon 2010

The future will beComplex

Uncertain

Dynamic

From Facts to Actions

1. ScienceWhat has happened?

What is likely to happen?

How certain are we?

2. ValuesShould we care?

What should we care about?

Why should we care?

3. DecisionsWhat should be done?

Who should act?

How do we prioritize actions?

Global Mean Surface Temperature Anomalies Relative to 1901-1950

Modeling

Source: IPCC 2007

Source: The Copenhagen Diagnosis

Past and Future Warming

Complexity of the Climate System

Framing

Citizens use their value predispositions (such as political or religious beliefs) as perceptual screens, selecting news outlets and Web sites whose outlooks match their own.

S.L. Popkin, 1991

Frames organize central ideas, defining a controversy to resonate with core values and assumptions. Frames pare down complex issues by giving some aspects greater emphasis. They allow citizens to rapidly identify why an issue matters, who might be responsible, and what should be done.

Nisbet and Mooney, 2007

Framing Climate Change

Scary Weather

Makes it seem out of our control, a phenomenon so big and over such time frames that we can do nothing.

People tune out.

Appeal to Higher Values

Forward-Thinking Solutions, Planning, New Alternatives

Opponents are Against New Ideas and Progress

Devastation

People resort to protecting themselves and their own, go adaptationist.

People tune out.

Individuals Can Make aDifference

Results in a disconnect between the scale of the problem and scale of the solution

People tune out.

Source: FrameWorks Institute 2006

Life Magazine 1962Life Magazine 1962

Small Steps :: Large Impact

Why Does it Matter?

CLIMATECHANGE

Global Security

November 27, 2009

“Tribes that lived side by side for decades say they've been pushed to warfare by competition for disappearing water and pasture.”

“Have the climate wars of Africa begun?”

“It's a combustible mix of forces that the United Nations estimates has resulted in at least 400 deaths in northern Kenya this year. Moreover, experts worry that it's just the beginning of a new era of climate-driven conflict in Africa.”

What Can I do?

Let’s Talk About Solutions

MajorSolutionsEnergy Conservation

Renewable Energy

Land-use

Agriculture

Water

Forests

Transportation

Ecosystems

The Solutions Have Co-benefits

Alternative Energy

Reduced Pollution

Finite Fossil Fuel Resources

Economic Growth

Energy Security

Climate Change

Dense and Mixed UseUrban Development

Equity

Better Transportation

Walkability

Improved Communities

Reduced Crime

Climate Change

CommunicatingClimate ChangeClear Explanations

Focus on Solutions

Speak in Terms of Values

Claim the Future

ALTHOUGH PROBLEMS AND CATASTROPHES MAY BE INEVITABLE, SOLUTIONS ARE NOT

ISAAC ASIMOV

ALTHOUGH PROBLEMS AND CATASTROPHES MAY BE INEVITABLE, SOLUTIONS ARE NOT

ISAAC ASIMOV