Whatever the weather
Connecting the public with climate change issues
Alex Palman talks about Defra’s Climate Change Communications Initiative,
identifying key ways to engage the public.
C
limate change it has been said
is the most serious issue facing
the world, more so than
terrorism. We now read and hear
about the problem almost daily – yet
for many it’s an issue they can neither
see, nor are affected by or even care
about. So how do we engage those
with an issue which is both
perplexing, overwhelming in scale and
almost invisible on a daily scale?
The Climate Change
Communications Initiative
The Climate Change Communications
Initiative (CCCI) set up by Defra in
2005 aims to shift public attitudes to
climate change so that people are
better placed to take action. It takes its
direction from an evidence-based
strategy which recommends a local
and regional approach among several
other key insights.
While the science is what we rely on
for our understanding, most people
don’t react in a rational and logical
way. This makes the communications
of the issue all the more complex. If
we were all completely logical we
Giving a human face is central to
engaging the public. The Climate
Change Champions recently
travelled to Switzerland to
investigate two glaciers. Here
they are standing where the
glacier would have been in the
year of their birth.
8 The edge Autumn 2006
should be able to present the facts of
the issue and everyone would jump at
it. But we aren’t rational. We do
what’s convenient, we follow the
considered norms and prioritise
things based on a massive array of
competing factors. Research has also
shown that people are not concerned
about the future of their children
when it comes to climate change.
This is because they perceive the
impacts to be in the distant future
and in reality there are more urgent
current concerns, such as education.
Keeping it positive
Climate change is an issue which is
about people. As we know,
temperatures are increasing and a raft
of devastating effects will continue to
be felt. Sea level rise, increased
frequency and potency of storms,
accelerated desertification, increased
propagation of tropical diseases just to
name a few. But this is where the
problem begins. These
overwhelmingly negative impacts are
exactly why people switch off. It’s just
too difficult to deal with. What could I
do to solve this/these problems?
Change the channel, watch something
else; its easier and less depressing.
Taking a positive approach which
engenders involvement and
empowerment are two cornerstones to
the CCCI approach.
So how do you make a seemingly
disaster-strewn topic positive? Firstly
by showing that the problem can be
surmounted and secondly by showing
that people are tackling it. The holy
grail is to make those actions
aspirational, high status and cool.
We’re not there yet, but that’s the goal.
For example, in Germany the social
status of behaviours associated with
recycling are very high – if you don’t
recycle, you’re a social leper.
A positive development is the shift in
the media that took place about a year
ago. The balance of media reports up
to around September last year would
always caution that climate change
was unproven and still being debated
by scientists. The tone now is that this
issue is upon us and has been
researched and proven to a level
second only to Newton’s second law
of motion.
Keeping it local
Keeping the issue ‘home not away’ is
also key. Research shows that when an
issue is situated in another country or
on the other side of the world it’s
easier to just change the channel
thinking, ‘that’s terrible, somebody
should do something about that.’
Making climate change a local or
regional issue gives it more relevance.
More importantly, by having a human
face the issue is moved from one of
graphs, tables and computer forecasts
to something which is more tangible
and real.
The CCCI has recently funded 80
local and regional communications
projects across England. Each project
is picking up the issue in a way that
makes it more accessible to people
from those areas. In some cases
specific audiences have been targeted;
youth, ethnic groups, educators, to
name a few.
Keeping it personal
Another insight which has fed in to
our strategy is the need for faces and
personalities to champion/lead on the
issue. This is a difficult challenge as
most respected spokespeople tend to
emerge naturally and gain credibility
from their efforts rather than their
celebrity status. Unfortunately there
are no Sir Bob Geldof’s or Nelson
Mandela’s leading the cause. So before
well known faces emerge, we decided
to grow our own.
The Climate Change Champions
Project kicked off in January 2006
with a youth competition to find
nine champs – one for each region of
England. Entrants had to prepare a
news report about climate change in
their region, and those that made the
semi-finals were interviewed. The
winning champions have since
visited 10 Downing Street and asked
questions of Sir David King, met the
Secretary of State for Environment
and the Prime Minister. More
recently they travelled by train to
Switzerland to investigate climate
change effects on two glaciers. They
are now back in their own regions
actively taking the issue to a broad
range of groups including schools,
local authorities, and community
groups. The media uptake has been
phenomenal – between them these
10 -17 yr olds have been on a huge
range of regional radio and TV
stations, and in most of the regional
press – resulting in the issue being
portrayed positively and with a sense
of purpose, that is both important
and relevant for locals.
By associating climate change with
people and keeping it very much a
local and regional issue people in the
regions have been engaged. The plan
Red Earth: Geograph (Trace) 2005
now is to keep up the momentum by
providing more useful information and
resources for people to tackle the issue.
Alex Palman is Climate Change
Communications Manager at Defra.
For more details of the CCCI, go to
www.climatechallenge.gov.uk
Quick summary The visual impact of using the coast
Points to keep in mind for The coast gives a visual immediacy to
organisations engaging the climate change that’s often difficult to
public with climate change: achieve in other areas of people’s lives.
v As low tech, low science as This was exploited well in the low tide
event at Birling Gap, 2005. Working with
possible.
a group of environmental artists (Red
v Keep the issue ‘home, not
Earth), the National Trust demonstrated in
away’ – tap into local/regional
a very visual and dramatic way, the
issues.
effects of coastal erosion. A line of
v Always positive – only use
pebbles were used to mark where the
fear if you provide a means
cliffs stood 1978 years ago giving an
to address the problem.
immediate physical and local impact of
v Make the issue relevant to
climate change.
the audience on their terms.
v Don’t rely on concern for
children/human future.
The edge Autumn 2006 9