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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
