Acting On, Without ‘Believing In,’ Climate Change
Excerpt on this EcoWatch story:
Some think people must “believe” in climate change in order to care about the issue, but this study suggests that people can work toward climate adaptations without necessarily “believing in” climate change or seeing the issue through a climate change frame.
“Many people think that belief in climate change is a necessary precursor to action on climate change, that only by understanding the enormous scale of climate change will people develop the sense of urgency to craft solutions quickly and the commitment to carry them through,” Orlove said.
But he and his colleagues found the community frame can also be a way to encourage people who “don’t believe in climate change” to work toward solutions. Orlove found people were inspired to participate in projects to help the community adapt to climate change when they believed these projects would help strengthen their community and advance it.
He also notes the language used in messaging is crucial, and he believes people may feel more connected to the concept of resilience rather than adaptation. “Resilience speaks more directly to the deeply-felt wish that communities will continue to thrive and flourish,” Orlove said. Being aware of language and messaging and what local communities want and need is crucial to successful climate communication.