Climate 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 ChangeCommunications InitiativeThe 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

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 positiveClimate 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?

 Whatever the weatherConnecting the public with climate change issues

Alex Palman talks about Defra’s Climate Change Communications Initiative,

identifying key ways to engage the public.

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 localKeeping 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.’

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

 

The edge Autumn 2006 9

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 personalAnother 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

The visual impact of using the coast

The coast gives a visual immediacy to

climate change that’s often difficult to

achieve in other areas of people’s lives.

This was exploited well in the low tide

event at Birling Gap, 2005. Working with

a group of environmental artists (Red

Earth), the National Trust demonstrated in

a very visual and dramatic way, the

effects of coastal erosion. A line of

pebbles were used to mark where the

cliffs stood 1978 years ago giving an

immediate physical and local impact of

climate change.

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

now is to keep up the momentum by

providing more useful information and

resources for people to tackle the issue.

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 Alex Palman is Climate Change

Communications Manager at Defra.

 For more details of the CCCI, go to

www.climatechallenge.gov.uk

Quick summaryPoints to keep in mind for

organisations engaging the

public with climate change:

As low tech, low science as

possible.

Keep the issue ‘home, not

away’ – tap into local/regional

issues.

Always positive – only use

fear if you provide a means

to address the problem.

Make the issue relevant to

the audience on their terms.

Don’t rely on concern for

children/human future.