why we disagree about climate change - book review

Michael Hulme

http://www.mikehulme.org/

A good place to look for wisdom… is

where you least expect to find it: in

the minds of your opponents.

Jonathan Haidt, 2006

Main Point

It’s not just how to

communicate.

It’s about what to

communicate and how

those arenas intersect.

Religion

Economics

Politics

International

Relations

Science and

Technology

Engineering

Sociology

Psychology

Community Health

Risk Management

Etc….

The Social Meanings of Climate

“Ideas about climate are always situated in a time

and a place.”

Meteorological vs. Metaphorical

Local knowledge vs. climate scientists

Climate change used in different ideologies:

- Racism

- Control of the environment

- Instability

- Wild

The Discovery of Climate Change

“…the idea that the Earth’s climate was susceptible to such

large changes…was not an easy one for mid-nineteenth

century Europe to accept…”

Jean Baptiste Joseph Fourier and John Tyndall

Guy Stewart Callendar

Syukuro Manabe

Wallace Broecker

The Performance of Science

“We disagree about science because we have

different understandings of the relationship of

scientific evidence to other things.”

What kinds of questions are scientists asked to

answer?

Limits to the science

- It will always be incomplete

- Requires trust and participation

- Acknowledging what science can and can’t tell us.

The Endowment of Value

“Individuals and societies ascribe value to

activities, assets, constructs and resources in

many different ways.”

Different economic perspectives and analyses

Geopolitical disagreement – Kyoto, carbon taxes

Stern Review and IPCC

‘Business as usual’ – why?

The Things We Believe

“Our beliefs about human dignity and accountability, about the

value of the non-human world and about humanity’s ultimate

purpose and destiny will often shape the way we frame our

understanding of climate change.”

Several religions have made official statements on climate

change.

Different faith-oriented frames with which to consider climate

change:

- Sin

- Justice for Creation

- Social Justice

- Personal transformation

The Things We Fear

“No two people necessarily have the same perception

of a given risk and certainly do not necessarily

evaluate its significance for individual or collective

behavior the same way.”

Why is risk perception different?

- People will reflect their worldview onto the information.

- Social amplification

- Framing

- Media coverage

- Basically, this entire class.

The Communication of Risk“…how scientific risks associated with climate change are

communicated: the different ways an issue is framed, the different

audiences targeted, the different language, stories and visual imagery

adopted.”

- Scientists

- Media

- Public

- Corporate interests

- Images

- Language

- Advertising

- Ideological baggage

Who is involved?

What do they use?

The Challenges of Development

“Our belief in the idea of ‘progress’ and our views of development are powerful shapers of our attitudes towards climate change.”

Sustainable development – How do we get there?

What does that even mean?

Considerations:

Poverty – Global North and Global South

International legal system – global trade barriers

Population

- Carbon neutral development

- Trade and mobility changes

- Biofuels and other innovation

The Way We Govern

“Who exactly has the right to govern climate, who exactly should

exercise authority over the climate system?...How are other non-

government interests represented?”

UN Security Council 2007 – Climate change is a security issue.

The Montreal Protocol – Ozone levels

International vs. national vs. state vs. local actors

What does that success look like?

Beyond Climate Change

“Climate change is everywhere. Not only are the physical climates of the world

everywhere changing, but just as importantly the idea of climate change is now

to be found active across the full parade of human endeavors, institutions,

practices, and stories.”

Climate Change vs. climate change

Mirror and Magnifying glass

Attribution of all global problems to climate change

(Mega-problem awaiting a mega-solution)

….good luck with that.