Polling within the US and internationally shows a large gap in what is publically known about climate science and policy. A World Public Opinion Poll taken between April and July 2009 reflected this global divide in opinion on taking action on climate change. At that time 52 percent of Americans believed that the government should place a higher emphasis on climate change, eight percentage points below the international average.
A CNN poll released October 27, 2009 increased that percentage to 60 percent of Americans in support of passage of climate change legislation in the form of a “cap and trade” bill, which is the dominant focus of legislation passed in the US House of Representatives, is currently under debate in the US Senate and is the adopted method of reducing greenhouse gas pollutants under the Kyoto Protocol.
A third poll taken by the Pew Center for The People & The Press in October 2009 reflected that while 73 percent of their respondents believe climate change is a serious or somewhat serious problem, only 24 percent of the poll’s respondents, representing nearly one-quarter of Americans, even know that cap and trade is an environmental policy.
These polls point out the need for better communication of how climate change is linked to the environment and economic, health and other issues. Also needed to be addressed is the public’s awareness of the issue as promoted through the media and through the public’s own behavior. Governments must, therefore, address how the topic is communicated and promote transparency and accountability in its policy-making.
Media Skill-Development, Behavior Change and Public Awareness of Climate Change
The public, especially within the United States, but also in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, remains unclear of the science and policy surrounding climate change. As the Pew poll reflects, within the United States nearly one-quarter of the public does not understand or even know what the main mechanism will be for reducing greenhouse gas pollution. The reasons for this confusion over climate change and the lack of knowledge about the topic stems from a variety of sources.
First, the media’s role in disseminating information about climate change has been obstructed by its own understanding of the issue and as a result of manipulation by special interests. The media, in fact, has misrepresented the economic debate over cap and trade, allowing opponents of action on climate change to promote a “false debate over climate science in the realm of climate economics.” The media, essentially, has been used as a tool of promoting confusion and denial over the issue. Through supposedly objective institutions such as think tanks and trade associations or through academics funded by industry, the manipulation of information and science has been effective in promoting propaganda meant to cause doubt over climate science and the need for action. The media has been effectively spun into believing these institutions’ and individuals’ perspectives are valid and necessary in order to promote a sense of “balance” when covering a story. Yet often these perspectives are intended to promote doubt on the subject of climate change, rather than to provide valid information. Journalists assessing this issue acknowledge the profession must start reporting the truth about the facts of climate policy - not just the facts themselves - if society is to avoid a climatic “cataclysm.” These scholars promote the continuing education and specialization of media producers in order to address the inability of journalists to communicate climate change in a comprehensive and accurate way.
Another important component of public awareness of the topic of climate change is how this awareness is related to behavior and behavioral change. When thousands and even millions of people make choices that add unnecessarily to the global warming problem, the effects can be considerable. Much communication of climate change policy and products has left the public turned off. Resulting in part from the manipulation of the media, the public is even turned off by terms like global warming and climate change. A new approach is therefore needed if mainstream consumers are to adopt lower-carbon lifestyles.
Major Economies Forum and the Need for Communication, Transparency & Accountability
Leaders from around the world met October 18-19, 2009 in London at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate to find common ground and to improve transparency and accountability. Among the goals set during the MEF, the group of leaders agreed that it would be useful to establish an organized process for how to take this work forward and to monitor its future progress. An important mechanism of promoting transparency and accountability that was recommended was the use of national communication reports, which highlight a variety of campaigns that individual governments operate to promote climate change awareness to highlight what the governments are doing to address climate change. It was also noted that the frequency, timeliness, and content of these reports could be improved.
The fifth series of national communications under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are due to be released in January 2010. New methods of disseminating the results of these communication reports would not only help in the context of promoting transparency and accountability for government action on climate change, but would also help promote public awareness of how climate change is linked to economic, health, transportation, energy and other issues.
Polling within the 