IB Environmental systems and societies 6.3F Climate Change Perspectives Notes

Stakeholders Shape How the Public Sees Climate Change

1. Everyone is a stakeholder, but roles, influence and vulnerability differ widely.
2. Stakeholders shape how people understand and respond to climate change.
3. Their influence depends on trust, access to information and personal relevance.
4. The key groups that shape perception are charismatic individuals, local community groups, NGOs, media organisations and educational institutions.

How Each Group Influences Public Perception

1. Charismatic Individuals
   1. Public figures bring emotional engagement and urgency to the climate debate.
   2. They often draw younger people into environmental activism.
   3. They help turn awareness into motivation for behaviour change.

Attenborough, Gore and Thunberg in Action

Local Community Groups Make Action Practical

1. Local Community Groups
   1. They tackle climate change where it touches daily life, such as recycling, water conservation and flood preparedness.
   2. People act more readily when changes are practical and visible in their own neighbourhood.
   3. Community initiatives build social responsibility and collective participation.
   4. They often stress the co-benefits of action, like cleaner air or savings from energy efficiency.

NGOs Translate Science for the Public

1. Non-Governmental Organisations
   1. They run research and education campaigns that shape how the public understands climate change.
   2. They give voice to vulnerable communities at high risk from climate impacts.
   3. Their reach depends on funding, local support and scientific credibility.

Media Frames Whether Climate Is Settled or Debated

1. Media and Communication
   1. Media decides how climate information is framed, as a scientific consensus or a controversial debate.
   2. Reliable journalism raises climate literacy, while biased reporting breeds confusion or denial.
   3. Social media spreads information fast but also amplifies misinformation.

Bias and Trust in Climate Reporting

Education Builds Long-Term Climate Understanding

1. Educational Institutions
   1. Schools and universities teach the science and critical thinking behind climate issues.
   2. Education encourages long-term sustainable behaviour.
   3. Students influence families and communities by sharing evidence-based understanding.

Perspectives Differ Because Values and Exposure Differ

1. People experience climate impacts unevenly and rank economic, social and cultural values differently.
2. Responses hinge on risk perception, lifestyle needs, access to information, economic security and trust in institutions.
3. Disagreement arises because people weigh the necessity, practicality and urgency of action differently.

Age Groups Weigh the Future Differently

1. Age Groups
   1. Younger people tend to back rapid action, since they will live longest with the consequences.
   2. Older people sometimes prioritise economic stability, as impacts may feel less immediate.

Developed and Developing Societies Split Over Responsibility

1. Developed and Developing Societies
   1. High-income countries have more financial and technological capacity to mitigate and adapt.
   2. Lower- and middle-income countries often prioritise growth and poverty reduction before decarbonisation.
   3. Many argue wealthy nations grew rich on fossil fuels and so bear the greatest historical responsibility to fund global mitigation.

Sweden: A Wealthy Nation's Net-Zero Pledge

Coastal and Inland Communities Feel Different Urgency

1. Coastal and Inland Communities
   1. Coastal and low-lying island nations face sea-level rise, storm surges and saltwater intrusion, making action urgent.
   2. Inland areas may see risks as slower or less visible, weakening motivation to act.

The Maldives: Adapting to Rising Seas

Fossil-Fuel and Renewable Economies Pull Opposite Ways

1. Fossil-Fuel and Renewable Economies
   1. Fossil-fuel-dependent countries prioritise jobs and industrial competitiveness and may resist rapid transitions.
   2. Renewable-focused economies see mitigation as good for both the environment and green jobs.

Saudi Arabia: Guarding an Oil Economy

Worldview: The EVS Spectrum Applied to Climate

1. Environmental value systems sit on a spectrum from human-centred to nature-centred, not in three equal boxes.
2. Anthropocentric (Human-Centred End)
   1. Treats climate as a problem to manage through policy, economic planning and regulation.
3. Technocentric (Optimist End of the Human-Centred Spectrum)
   1. Sits at the technology-optimist end of the anthropocentric spectrum, not as a separate third pillar.
   2. Trusts innovation and engineering, such as carbon capture or geoengineering, to solve the problem.
4. Ecocentric (Nature-Centred End)
   1. Values nature intrinsically and stresses limits to growth.
   2. Calls for reduced consumption and living in harmony with nature.

Check Your Understanding