Beyond counting climate consensus

Pearce, Warren; Grundmann, Reiner; Hulme, Mike; Raman, Sujatha; Hadley Kershaw, Eleanor; Tsouvalis, Judith

Abstract

Several studies have been using quantified consensus within climate science as an argument to foster climate policy. Recent efforts to communicate such scientific consensus attained a high public profile but it is doubtful if they can be regarded successful. We argue that repeated efforts to shore up the scientific consensus on minimalist claims such as ‘humans cause global warming’ are distractions from more urgent matters of knowledge, values, policy framing and public engagement.  Such efforts to force policy progress through communicating scientific consensus misunderstand the relationship between scientific knowledge, publics and policymakers. More important is to focus on genuinely controversial issues within climate policy debates where expertise might play a facilitating role. Mobilising expertise in policy debates calls for judgment, context and attention to diversity, rather than deferring to formal quantifications of narrowly scientific claims.

Citation

Pearce, W., Grundmann, R., Hulme, M., Raman, S., Hadley Kershaw, E., & Tsouvalis, J. (2017). Beyond counting climate consensus. Environmental Communication, 11(6), 723-730. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2017.1333965

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 30, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jul 23, 2017
• Publication Date: Nov 2, 2017
• Deposit Date: Oct 12, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 12, 2017
• Journal: Environmental Communication
• Print ISSN: 1752-4032
• Electronic ISSN: 1752-4040
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 723-730
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2017.1333965
• Keywords: Climate change, climate policy, climate change communication
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/873791
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524032.2017.1333965
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Environmental Communication on 23 July 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17524032.2017.1333965.