Chapter 9. Establishing Common Ground: Finding Better Ways to Communicate About Climate Disruption
Authors: Barnosky Anthony D. , Matlock Teenie , Christensen Jon , Han Hahrie , Miles Jack , Rice Ronald E. , Westerling LeRoy , White Lisa 
Published: December 2016

The key message of this chapter is that solving the climate problem will require motivating social and behavioral changes through effective communication. More and better communication about climate issues is needed so people will mobilize solutions. Currently most people in the world do not believe that climate change is worth doing anything about, if they have even heard of it at all. Despite the efforts of many journalists, scientists, educators, and politicians to convey the science behind and urgency of climate disruption, about a third of Americans still deny that climate is changing or that humans cause it, and nearly 60% feel that climate change is not a problem serious enough to affect them. What is more, in many parts of the world, at most 35% of adults have even heard of climate change.

This general lack of recognition about the magnitude of climate disruption and the urgency of dealing with it is slowing down the process of implementing solutions. Even if high-level decision makers want to put in place the policies, incentives, and ready-to-be-deployed technologies required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they are unable do so to the extent needed because they have to answer to their constituencies. Put another way, only if the majority of the global society sees the need to mitigate climate change, and the feasibility of doing so, will decision-makers be able to enact the policy changes needed to jumpstart a global energy transition. The good news, however, is that most people—for example, around 60% in the United States—have not yet made up their minds about the need to fix the climate problem. Reaching these individuals with the right information in the right way offers great opportunity to boost societal awareness and effect necessary change.

In this chapter we briefly review the information that supports these statements, and summarize the key pathways of communication about climate change that have prevailed so far, including where they have been successful and where they have fallen short. We focus on the United States, because of its high-emitter status and consequent influence on attitudes about climate mitigation worldwide. We then discuss findings from recent research on communication strategies that suggest an effective way forward—namely, that much remains to be done through appropriate framing of the issues for diverse constituencies that have not been effectively reached. We suggest that by targeting specific audiences with appropriately framed information, the societal balance can be tipped from the current condition of a majority who are apathetic to a majority who become receptive to the reality of harmful climate disruption and the need to avoid it. For example, strategies may include peer-to-peer interactions that communicate how climate change and associated impacts fit with existing value systems that define various religious, political, and economic spheres. To this end, we recognize four general communication strategies that will be useful.

Develop coordinated local, state, national, and international informational campaigns to tell diverse constituencies about the need for and benefits of mitigating climate change. These must be framed appropriately for specific target audiences, much as advertising agencies do to promote products effectively, and evaluated rigorously to know how to improve subsequent campaigns. Integrate education about climate change impacts and solutions into all levels of education, from K-12 through University curricula. Create venues for decision makers, business leaders, religious leaders, and academics, spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts, with the overall goal of developing recognition, dialog, and action on the intertwined behavioral, ethical, political, economic, social, health, and scientific dimensions of climate disruption. Communicate that actionable solutions to climate change problems exist and are feasible to implement. This should include embedding climate change information and action opportunities across a variety of venues, from print journalism, to traditional TV and radio, to digital and social media.

We also provide ten recommendations for how the University of California (and other universities in general) can implement communication programs to accelerate its own system-wide transition to carbon neutrality, while simultaneously contributing to the broader effort of motivating the societal shifts in perceptions and behavior needed to facilitate a global energy transition.