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Policy ContactAGU Science Policy Event
AGU Hosts Leadership Summit on Climate Science Communication
7–8 March 2011
Washington, DC
Building on informal meetings among a small group of scientific societies and research institutions concerned with climate science, AGU hosted a Leadership Summit on Climate Science Communication, 7–8 March 2011, in Washington, D. C.
Presidents, executive directors, and senior public policy staff from 17 scientific organizations engaged with experts in the social sciences regarding effective communication of climate science and with practitioners from agriculture, energy, and the military. The keynote speaker for the summit was Bob Inglis, former U.S. representative from South Carolina's 4th Congressional District.
The summit was built around three panel conversations: one on the environment of climate science communication, the second on public understanding of climate change, and the third representing the perspectives of consumers of climate science–based information who work with specific audiences. These panels unearthed the barriers scientists face in effectively communicating their findings to various stakeholder groups, including policy makers.
Over the course of 2 days the participants diagnosed previous challenges and failings, enumerated the key constituencies that need to be effectively engaged, and identified the critical role played by cultural cognition—the influence of group values, particularly around equality and authority, individualism, and community; and the perceptions of risk. Discussions emphasized the need for information tailored to specific audiences and collaborations with social scientists, practitioners, and professional communicators.
In the final session, six teams explored potential collaborative initiatives to take these insights forward, to listen to different constituencies, to craft and test clear messages about the causes and consequences of climate change, and to disseminate these messages through multiple, credible sources.
The workshop resulted in a list of potential shared initiatives that will be explored in follow-on meetings and projects.
The following organizations participated in the summit (an asterisk indicates the affiliation of a panelist):
American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Chemical Society
American Geological Institute
American Geophysical Union
American Institute of Physics
American Meteorological Society
American Physical Society
American Society of Agronomy
American Society of Limnology and Oceanography
American Statistical Association
Arctic Research Consortium of the United States
Carnegie Mellon University*
Ecological Society of America
Entergy Corporation*
Featherstone Farm*
Geological Society of America
George Mason University*
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory*
Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies*
Pew Center on Global Climate Change
Society for Conservation Biology
Soil Science Society of America
The Oceanography Society
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee*
U.S. Navy*
Yale Law School*