Belief in change: The role of media and communications in driving action on climate change

Abstract

Climate change is a collective action problem as much as it is a physical one. However, in spite of high levels of awareness and a broad acceptance of the science, there has been no public consensus on the need to prioritise action. This chapter explores the role of current communications processes in inhibiting the development of such public sentiment. It draws on a circuits of communications framework which addresses production processes, and the structures which underpin them, patterns in media content and how audiences receive media messages, including online interactions. It will argue that these have operated to shift political priorities and foster feelings of powerlessness whilst in fact, collectively, publics can play a crucial role in shifting the parameters of the debate.