AGU Chapman Conference on Communicating Climate Science: A Historic Look to the Future
08 June 2013 — 13 June 2013, Granby, CO, USA
Presenter: Robert Ward
Monday, June 10, 2013, 10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Session: Climate Communication with the Public I
Abstract Title: Loss of Public Trust by UK Climate Researchers and Implications for Future Communication

There is strong evidence that climate researchers in the UK have experienced a significant and collective loss of public trust as a result of controversies surrounding the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in late 2009 and early 2010. A public opinion survey carried out in March 2011 (Shuckburgh et al., 2012) found that only 38% of the UK public tended to agree or strongly agreed with the statement: 'We can trust climate scientists to tell us the truth about climate change'. By comparison, opinion polls continue to find that scientists are trusted to tell the truth in general by more than two-thirds of the UK public. Polls also show that the controversies in 2009-10 have made only a small sustained impact on public opinion about the existence and causes of climate change. Most of the damage to public trust appears to have been inflicted by prominent national media coverage over several months that raised doubts about the integrity, motives and conduct of UK climate researchers. Accusations of a lack of transparency, which were largely upheld by independent inquiries, appear to have been the most harmful. These controversies have led to a measurable and marked shift in the way in which many media have subsequently covered climate research. They have also been successfully exploited by climate change 'sceptics', particularly the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a lobby group that was launched three days after the e-mails hacked from the Climatic Research Unit were posted on the web. In order to re-build public confidence and trust, UK climate researchers will need to take account of the experience of other professions, as well as companies and organisations, that have suffered severe reputational damage. A successful strategy for climate researchers is likely to require proactive efforts across the profession that are sustained for many years, with the following broad objectives (Ward (2013): * engage the public more effectively through direct and indirect methods; * learn more about the information needs of the public (ie through two-way communication); * improve the explanation and presentation to public audiences of difficult issues such as risk and uncertainty; * implement measures for improving the reputation of the climate research profession for trustworthiness, particularly in terms of transparency; * increase efforts to influence the narratives on climate change that are being promoted by the media; * deal more effectively with criticisms of, and attacks on, mainstream climate research; and * engage policy-makers at international, national and local levels more effectively through direct and indirect methods. References: Shuckburgh, E., Robison, R. and Pidgeon, N. 2012. Climate Science, the Public and the News Media. Living With Environmental Change, London, UK. 54p. Ward, R. 2013. Communicating on climate change. Weather, v.68, no.1, p.16-17.

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