House of Commons - Communicating climate science - Science and Technology Committee

Communicating climate science - Science and Technology Committee Contents

2 Why is communication important?

13. Extensive reports on public attitudes and behaviours related to the environment, including climate change, were published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) up to 2009.[13] Since then there have been more limited annual surveys on public understanding and knowledge of the environment, supplemented by a quarterly public attitudes tracker produced by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).[14] The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has published two Public Attitudes to Science surveys in 2011 and 2014, which included some information on climate change.[15] The availability of data was highlighted to us as an issue. Professor Nick Pidgeon, from the Understanding Risk Research Group in Cardiff University, expressed concern about the lack of good quality tracking polling and the restricted questions asked in more recent government polls. He was also critical of what he described as poorly worded ad hoc polls often commissioned by the media and called for a more consistent approach and increased funding from Government: [16]

Public concern about climate change

14. The last in depth report published by Defra in 2009, found that 61% disagreed with the statement "the effects of climate change are too far in the future to really worry me".[18] The most recent DECC information, published in April 2013, found that when asked directly, 66% were concerned about climate change (similar to 65% in July 2012), with 12% attributing it to natural causes (down from 15% in 2012).[19] A survey carried out for the UK Energy Research Centre in 2013 found that 72% of those asked thought the climate was changing, with the majority of those believing it was caused by a combination of human activity and natural processes (46%), mainly human activity (22%), or entirely human activity (6%).[20]

15. A study by Emily Shuckbrugh and funded by several Government departments,Climate Science, the Public and the Media, was publishedin 2012. 80% of those that took part thought the climate was changing. The most common belief (46%) was that this was caused by a combination of natural processes and human activity (the same as the UKERC study above). There was also a correlation between those who accepted a human influence in climate change and were concerned about it (over 70%) and willingness to change behaviour (over 75%). However, the study also found:

· 44% believed the seriousness of climate change had been exaggerated;

· 10% rejected the existence of a human impact on climate change; and

· a decrease in concern about the issue with 82% at least fairly concerned in 2005 falling to 63% in 2011.[21]

16. Attitudes to climate change may be related to experience of extreme weather events. One example is a survey carried out in Wales for the Climate Change Consortium for Wales at the end of 2012 that found increased levels of concern about climate change, partly linked to the severe floods experienced that year. The survey found 88% of respondents considered that the world's climate was changing (up from 77% in 2010).[22]

17. The findings of these surveys, which show a level of acceptance of climate change amongst the public, were reflected in evidence we received from Ministers. Greg Barker MP, Minister of State in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, told us "the public are informed; there is broad support. It is not universal. The minority of those who do not accept the science are particularly vocal".[23] David Willetts MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, told us that amongst the public "overall there is a recognition that something very significant is happening to the climate".[24]

18. Despite the existing polling information, it remains difficult to draw firm conclusions on how public acceptance and understanding of climate change is changing in the UK. However, it is clear that a significant majority of people think the climate is changing and that human activity is at least partly responsible for this. The polling on public understanding is limited and unlikely to highlight the information needs of the general public. In its response to this report, the Government should detail how it will collect, and make available, more regular and more in depth information on the public understanding of climate change.

19. Many of those who provided evidence to our inquiry commented on a perceived reduction in concern about climate change amongst the public in recent years: "Right now the economy is the top priority for most people and politicians".[25] The experience of local authorities was that the public has "more pressing issues to deal with, particularly in the current economic climate".[26] The Minister, Greg Barker, told us that "most people [...] will not act in a way that will cost them money when they have many other competing demands on family budgets, particularly in the current environment with the pressures on the cost of living".[27]

20. The Glasgow University Media Group (GUMG) reported that their work with focus groups showed that, in some cases, "there was an assumption that [climate change] had [already] been solved",[28] which they attributed to a reduced political and media focus.[29] In addition, the Environment Agency told us how, in its experience, interest in climate change was correlated to severe weather events. These "are sadly, very effective at raising awareness. You rely on these weather events to give that burst of energy to the communication".[30]This was evident in the coverage of the severe weather experienced this winter, which resulted in extensive debate on whether climate change could be one of the causes.[31]

21. Professor Nick Pidgeon summarised his experience of public concerns:

Public understanding of climate science

22. One of the main conclusions from the Climate Science, the Public and the Media, study was that:

23. Acceptance of climate change as real does not necessarily correlate with a detailed understanding of the causes or the underpinning science.Defra's 2011 survey on understanding and knowledge of the environment showed a sharp drop in the level of knowledge people felt they had about climate change. In 2009, 61% of respondents thought they "knew a lot/fair amount" about climate change and 33% just a little.[34] In 2011 this had changed to 44% and 44% respectively.[35] In contrast, the BIS Public Attitudes to Science found that 75% of respondents felt informed about climate change in 2011 and 78% in 2014.[36] However, when questioned more closely people often fail to give an accurate explanation of climate change and its causes. Dr Catherine Happer, from the Glasgow University Media Group, told us how they found that "most people, unprompted, struggled to give a consistent and accurate explanation of climate change".[37] People also tended to confuse climate change with other environmental issues, such as ozone depletion.[38]

24. Dr Emily Shuckburgh who published the report titled Climate Science, the Public and the News Media in 2012,[39]believed that there was an appetite for more information and that "many non expert members of the public do have a wide ranging and subtle understanding of climate change, are able to grasp new concepts, and are willing to engage in debate".[40] The BIS Public Attitudes to Science 2011 survey found that, with regard to science more generally, "four in ten (38%) think they hear and see the right amount of information, while five in ten (51%) think they hear and see too little or far too little".This 51% figure was unchanged in the 2014 survey."[41]

25. Professor Chris Rapley told us that there were certain key concepts that were important "but in the end most people do not have the time, or need, to understand all of the detail".[42]Professor Greg Philo, from the Glasgow University Media Group was of the view that "the bulk of the population" would be more likely to "trust the science if it is clearly explained to them" that there is a scientific consensus.[43]Kent County Council offered a different perspective, indicating "that people are not overly interested in the detailed science" but that "they know the headlines and they want to know what they can do about it".[44] Their experience was that detailed information on the science disengaged the majority of those they worked with.[45]However, Professor Philo cautioned that the public needed to understand that this was a major issue as, "if you want to introduce behavioural change in relation to climate change and you want to alter what people do [...] you must take the public with you".[46] The Government position reflected this; they told us that "that improving public understanding is necessary but not sufficient for developing increasing action to tackle climate change."[47]

26. Despite the complex nature of the science, improving understanding is important to ensuring effective policy implementation.

13 Department forEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs, , Public attitudes and behaviours towards the environment - tracker survey, September 2009 Back

14 Department of Energy and Climate Change, DECC Public Attitudes Tracking Surveys,2013-2014 Back

15 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute, Public Attitudes to Science, May 2011; Public Attitudes to Science, March 2014; Back

16 Understanding Risk Research Group, Cardiff University, Ev 119, para9 Back

17 Dr Emily Shuckburgh and Dr Rosie Robison,Ev w58, para34 Back

18 DEFRA, 2009 Survey of Public Attitudes and Behaviours Towards the Environment, 23 September 2009 Back

19 Department of Energy and Climate Change, DECC Public Attitudes Tracking Surveys,2013-2014 Back

20 UK Energy Research Centre, British public split on nuclear power,19 March 2013, p24 Back

21 Emily Shuckburgh, Rosie Robison and Nick Pidgeon, "Climate Science, the Public and the News Media",Living with Environmental Change, September 2012p11 Back

22 Capstick, S. B., Pidgeon, N. and Whitehead, M., "Public perceptions of climate change in Wales: Summary findings of a survey of the Welsh public conducted during November and December 2012", Climate Change Consortium of Wales, Cardiff, 2013 p12 Back

23 Q357 Back