Analysis and Opinion on the Climate and Sustainability Debate, edited @Chair of Climate Communication, University of Hamburg
The last month of the year has begun, Christmas decorations are taking over the cities, and another climate conference has started.
From December 2-13, COP25 will take place in Madrid. The conference was overshadowed by organisational issues: Continue reading ‘Tis the season again: COP25 in Madrid has started
von Joana Kollert
Vor gut einem Monat hat das Klimakabinett der Bundesregierung sein Klimaschutzprogramm 2030, meist bezeichnet als “Klimapaket”, vorgestellt. Das Programm wurde häufig für mangelnden Ehrgeiz kritisiert. Beispielsweise meint Patrick Graichen, Direktor des Thinktanks Agora Energiewende, dass die vorgesehenen Maßnahmen „bestenfalls für ein Drittel des Weges“ bis zur 2030er Ziellinie reichen. Ich habe mir die Zusammenfassung des Klimaschutzprogrammes durchgelesen und möchte meine eigenen Bedenken einbringen.
Besides demonstrations in the streets and public calls for climate action, activists are also attempting to fight for stricter climate protection laws by employing the legal system. Filing lawsuits against nations and states, political actors or companies in the context of climate change is called climate change litigation. Recently, some cases have gained prominence in German reporting as well as in international media coverage.
Continue reading Climate protests in the court room – Climate change litigation is on the rise
Edit 8 November: The vote is already closed now and the winners have been announced yesterday: they are two young women with their impressive poetic video “Rise”, which you can watch here.
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The British climate communication organisation Climate Outreach has initiated the Climate Communication Awards to recognise outstanding individuals worldwide “who are driving public engagement with climate change”.
The three nominees for the “Climate Change Communicator of the Year – People’s Choice Award” are
We think this is a nice occasion to appreciate engagement in climate change communication and have a look at other people’s work in the field.
Members of the general public are now invited to vote for one of the nominees, which you can do easily here. The vote closes already on Wednesday, 6 November 11:30pm BST – so be quick to participate. The nominee with the most votes wins.
Wenn am kommenden Wochenende der UN-Klimagipfel in New York beginnt, dürfte der mediale Aufmerksamkeitsstrudel um Klimaaktivistin Greta Thunberg noch einmal an Kraft gewinnen. Michael Brüggemann, Professor für Klima- und Wissenschaftskommunikation an der Universität Hamburg, kritisiert die Fokussierung der Berichterstattung auf die Person „Greta“ und die fehlende inhaltliche Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema. Außerdem erklärt er, was gängige Argumentationsmuster in der Klimaschutzdebatte mit einem Stau zu tun haben.
von Michael Brüggemann Continue reading Den Klimaschutz nicht zerreden – Vier Fallen der Klimakommunikation
There is an interesting new comment by Prof. Max Boykoff on our partner blog from the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research in Boulder, Colorado/USA. He describes how older adults try to diminish climate engagement promoted by young activists – and calls for more support: “Trust in this next generation of leaders”.
Read the comment here.
von Fenja De Silva-Schmidt und Michael Brüggemann
Ein durchaus besorgniserregender Befund unserer Forschung ist ein mangelndes Vertrauen der deutschen Bevölkerung in die Medienberichterstattung zum Klimawandel. In der deutschlandweiten Umfrage unseres Projekts „Down to Earth“ war die größte Gruppe unentschlossen, ob sie den Medien bei diesem Thema vertrauen soll. Die zweitgrößte Gruppe vertraute den Medien nicht; nur eine Minderheit vertraute ihnen (siehe Grafik). Dies steht im Widerspruch zum durchaus robustem Vertrauen der Mehrheit in die Medien, so wie wir es aus anderen Befragungen kennen.
Eine mögliche Erklärung für dieses schlechte Zeugnis für die Klimapolitikberichterstattung liefert nun eine Langzeitstudie zum Medienvertrauen der Uni Mainz. Continue reading Wer vertraut denn heute noch den Medien?
As a scientist, when reading the “Scientists For Future” statement supporting the Fridays for Future protest marches, my initial response was disappointment. The statement uses an extremely basic language to summarize the demands of the Paris Agreement, and the key steps necessary to avoid the most perilous climate change hazards. There is nothing innovative, provocative or unexpected about this statement. Thus, I was very doubtful about its effectiveness. Continue reading Science For Dummies
“Fridays for future” protest in Hamburg (wikimedia.org CC-by-sa 3.0/de; March 1, 2019)
As Fenja and Michael earlier commented, the “Fridays for Future” movement is getting more and more media coverage in Germany. The climate strike is triggering many positive, but also nasty reactions, Continue reading “Yes, but”-narrative in the German climate debate
As the protests for more political engagement in climate protection have spread to even more countries and expandend from schoolchildren protesting on “Fridays for Future” to “Scientists for Future” supporting them, we have decided to publish a series of blogposts on this social movement, its coverage in the debate and in media reporting.
This post will serve to compile a list of the blogposts related to this topic.
Part 1: “Fridays for Future” – Can the next generation save our world?, January 27, 2019
Part 2: Public protests “for future” as part of citizenship – children and scientists included, March 15, 2019
Part 3: “Yes, but“-narrative in the German climate debate, March 20, 2019
Part 4: Science for Dummies, March 20, 2019
There is also a report about the climate change protests in Boulder, Colorado (USA) on our partner blog, as well as a comment by Max Boykoff why “The kids are all right”.