Presentation by Sir Mark Walport on climate change communication at the Walker Institute Annual Lecture on 5 June 2014. Watch the video of the lecture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1hwzO_HmcA #walkerlecture

1. Climate Change Communication –
Success or Failure?
Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
Sir Mark Walport, Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government

2. Why do we communicate climate science?
Presentation title - edit in Header and Footer
…and to counter
misinformation
To inform…
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Why do we communicate climate science?
To aid policy and decision making
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Credit: Reuters

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Why do we communicate climate science?
To empower individual decision-making
4 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
Credit: John Lamb/GETTY Credit: Carbon Trust Credit: Ludovic Hirlimann (CC-BY-SA-2.0)
Credit: Keep Britain Tidy Credit: FDIN Credit: Joybot (CC-BY-SA-2.0)

5. Climate change is one of the science topics
people feel most well informed about
5 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014

6. Research on public perceptions of climate change has shown:
• People are concerned about climate change, believe it is
happening, but some still think it is natural variation
• View it as a distant problem affecting other people and times
• Recognise the effects (heat, melting glaciers) but don’t
spontaneously connect these with anthropogenic causes (energy
use, deforestation)
• Many causes (e.g. electricity use) ‘invisible’ in everyday life
• Can confuse climate change with other environmental issues (e.g.
ozone)
Source: Lorenzoni and Pidgeon (2006) Climatic Change, 77, 73-95; Lorenzoni, Pidgeon and O’Connor, R. (2005)
Risk Analysis, 25, 1387-1398.
But is there a disconnect between feeling well
informed, and level of understanding?
6 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014

7. Source: Ipsos MORI/Cardiff University/UKERC, 2013
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And while there is scientific consensus that the
climate is changing, among the public there is
more doubt

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Levels of concern about climate change among the
public have also dropped
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2005:
82% concerned
2010:
71%concerned
2013:
60% concerned
Source: Ipsos MORI/Cardiff University/UKERC, 2013

9. Where do the public get their scientific information
from?
Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014
Eighth in Google’s list of top ten most
searched ‘what is…?’ questions in 2013
Traditional media dominates, but on-line media
also has an important role
9 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014

10. Digital media offers new opportunities for
engagement between scientists and the public
www.myclimateandme.com

11. There was a large (but short-lived) peak in on-line
conversation about climate change when the
IPCC WGI report published
11 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014 - social listening Q4 (Sept to Dec) 2013 (BIS/Ipsos MORI)
With a
strong
traditional
news
element
Numberofon-line
conversations

12. • Discussion of science issues online often takes place among the pre-
engaged, who already hold strong views. Even the most animated Twitter debate
is unlikely to reach many people who are not already interested.
• Much online debate is partisan. Where people in online conversations cited
scientific evidence, it was usually to shore up ethical or political arguments.
• The messenger matters. Many of the debates around some of the more
contentious topics boiled down to discussions of scientific authority. People argued
over what this actually meant as well as who possessed it.
• Trust is likely to be highest in organisations seen as independent and
scientists aligned with them.
• Much on-line conversation consists of links back to traditional media
sources – the BBC and traditional media in particular, but also the more
accessible specialist media.
• Science alone isn’t enough. Communication which is visually interesting,
humorous, or relevant to people’s daily lives, is more ‘shareable’.
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Social listening provides insights for on-line science
engagement
Source: Public Attitudes to Science 2014 - social listening (BIS/Ipsos MORI)

13. Source: Shuckburgh, Robison, Pidgeon, 2012 (LWEC/DECC)
The messenger matters: Scientists have a
responsibility to communicate the science of
climate change
Percentage who trust various authority groups to give correct information on climate
change
13 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014

14. Political messages also matter: ‘Elite cues’
14 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
Credit: westerndailypress.co.uk

15. Effective communication requires an
understanding of your audience
Source: Rankmaniac, 2012
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16. 16 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
“If you say the world is
going to end, people switch
off thinking ‘here they go
again, trying to sell us
something’.”
Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield
(Shuckburgh et al, 2012)
“If you say the world is
going to end, people switch
off thinking ‘here they go
again, trying to sell us
something’.”
Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield
(Shuckburgh et al, 2012)
Framing matters:
Positive or negative framing (and values emphasised) can
influence how information is assimilated

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Locality specific information has more resonance
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“If it’s local to you it’s definitely more
interesting because you can identify
with it.”
Focus group participant, Newcastle (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)
“If it’s local to you it’s definitely more
interesting because you can identify
with it.”
Focus group participant, Newcastle (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)

18. Perception of future risk is influenced by
experience
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Source: Defra/Ipsos MORI/AEA Technology, 2013

19. Perception of future risk is influenced by
experience
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Source: Defra/Ipsos MORI/AEA Technology, 2013

20. Language matters:
The need for scientific precision needs to be balanced with
the need to be understood by non-specialists
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Source: Somerville and Hassol, Communicating the science of climate change,
Physics Today, October 2011

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• Climate change is happening
• We are causing it
• It’s likely to be bad
• Scientists overwhelmingly agree on the first three points
• There are things which can be done (although we may legitimately
disagree on what precisely)
Leiserowitz argues that climate change communication should contain five
key messages:
Narrative matters
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“I almost feel like a lot of people writing newspapers
nowadays have forgotten the art of story telling – telling
where they are, telling you what’s going on in the middle and
concluding.”
Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)
“I almost feel like a lot of people writing newspapers
nowadays have forgotten the art of story telling – telling
where they are, telling you what’s going on in the middle and
concluding.”
Focus group participant, Sutton Coldfield (Shuckburgh et al, 2012)

22. 22 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
We need to move the public debate on - from
the science of climate change, to the science of
response
“I would have been interested in hearing more on the ‘how do
we respond to climate change’ side of things…As a citizen I
want to know how the science knowledge can be used to make
good policy.”
“I would have been interested in hearing more on the ‘how do
we respond to climate change’ side of things…As a citizen I
want to know how the science knowledge can be used to make
good policy.”
“Small sections relating to actions that could be taken but this
section was not long enough.”
“Small sections relating to actions that could be taken but this
section was not long enough.”
“My only comment was that I knew much of it already,
although did learn a few new specifics.”
“My only comment was that I knew much of it already,
although did learn a few new specifics.”
(Feedback received from talks at regional science centres)

23. Difficult policy issues need to be viewed through
lenses
Climate Change: Challenges for Science and Policy
Parkhill et al, Transforming the Energy System – Public Values, Attitudes and Acceptability, 2013 (UKERC)
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Credit: Thomas Shahan (CC-BY-NC-ND-2.0)

24. Reducing the use of
finite resources
Reducing overall
levels of energy use
Efficient
Environmental
protection
Avoiding waste
Capturing
opportunities
Naturalness and
Nature
Availability and
Affordability
Reliability
Safety
Autonomy and Freedom
Choice and Control
Social Justice
Fairness, Honesty &
Transparency
Long-term
trajectories
Interconnected
Improvement and
quality
(Source: Cardiff University, 2013)
...and take account of a range of public values
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25. Communication is a two-way process -
interactive public engagement can take many
forms
25 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014
www.my2050.decc.gov.uk

26. Climate Change Communication –
Success or Failure?
26 Walker Institute Annual Lecture, 2014

27. Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material.
We apologise for any errors or omissions in the included attributions and would be grateful if notified of any corrections
that should be incorporated in future versions of this slide set. We can be contacted through enquiries@bis.gsi.gov.uk .
@uksciencechief
www.gov.uk/go-science