C5: the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference”

Citation

(2010), "C5: the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference”", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 2 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijccsm.2010.41402caf.001

C5: the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference”

Article Type: Feature From: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Volume 2, Issue 3

Climate change is and will continue to be one of the central issues in the world’s agenda. The 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Copenhagen in December 2009 has reiterated how much still needs to be done in order to tackle the various challenges climate change – and its various ramifications – pose to mankind.

Across the Commonwealth, the latest meeting of the Commonwealth Heads of State (CHOGM 2009) in Trinidad and the commitment expressed in the “Port of Spain Climate Change Consensus” to help commonwealth states to face the challenges of climate change are some of the concrete signs that climate issues are taken very seriously by commonwealth countries, which now actively search for ways to cope with the various challenges it poses.

Within the universe of the measures now being pursued to handle climate change, a special emphasis should be given to information, communication, awareness and training. This is due to the fact that by proper education and communication on climate change will offer the tools needed in order to allow a better understanding of the problem and support the search for solutions at the regional and global level.

Based on the perceived need to foster a broader awareness on climate change and to communicate it more efficiently, the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” is being organized by the International Climate Change Information Programme and London Metropolitan University. The event will be held in London, UK on 24-26 November 2010.

There are two key arguments which speak for the choice of “communication” as the focus of the conference: first, it is widely acknowledged that climate change is responsible for and may indeed lead to further serious impacts on commonwealth countries, in particular to small island developing states which are especially vulnerable. Communication is a key element of any mitigation and adaptation strategy and hence needs to be considered in all relevant mitigation and adaptation plans. Second, whereas most events previously held have focused on technical and technological aspects of climate change, the need to raise awareness about it and to motivate people to be engaged in the climate debate themselves has been largely overlooked. If people continue to see climate change as being detached from their day-to-day lives, they will feel less motivated to be involved in the climate change problem-solving process. The conference will contribute towards reversing this trend.

The thematic focus of the “Commonwealth Climate Change Communication Conference” will allow in-depth discussions about education and communication approaches and methods to inform and raise awareness about climate change, and hence support the search for global and regional solutions for the impacts climate change have and will have on commonwealth nations. Further details are available at: www.commonwealth-climate-change-2010.net/