Much has been learnt about public awareness and understanding of climate change. Many of the structural and behavioral obstacles to moving societies from climate concern to action have been identified. However, less is known about climate change communicators, though their contributions are critical to success. In evaluating risks from sea level rise, for example, communicators focused on assumptions about levels before assessing severity of impacts and the adequacy of adaptation options.
IPUR welcomed Dr Louis Lebel, Unit for Social and Environmental Research, Faculty of Social Science, Chiang Mai University, as he shared insights from his study on what 45 communicators in Singapore and Bangkok, Thailand, had to say about climate risks, and the strategies they employed to communicate with different audiences.
Future, uncertain, distant and invisible threats do not motivate action unless linked by communicators to recent extreme events, the way their audience now lives, and images, for example, of inundation. One telling difference between Singapore and Thailand is that trust in government authorities is much higher in the former, and as a consequence, people feel safe almost regardless off the severity of the climate change threat.
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