From the Ground Up: Changing the Conversation about Climate Change

"This policy briefing examines the role for communication in climate change adaptation in seven Asian countries."

The policy briefing draws on Climate Asia research data on the everyday experience of climate change of 33,000 people in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Vietnam. From BBC Media Action, the briefing explains how the data shows that "the world’s most vulnerable communities would benefit from media and communication initiatives to help them respond. The briefing aims to inform ongoing global policy initiatives to highlight to role of communication in climate change adaptation."

• "Part 1 draws on data from Asia and beyond to underscore some of the developmental impacts that arise from climate change, with particular emphasis on health and livelihoods.
• Part 2 lays out some of the central insights... [and] delineates three obstacles to climate change adaptation identified in the Climate Asia survey - lack of information, lack of co-operation and lack of institutional support - and illustrates how media and communication could play a role in addressing them.
• Part 3 examines the policy context for this inquiry, highlighting the opportunity for a new approach to communication due to increasing convergence of the global environmental and development agendas around climate change adaptation.
• Part 4 draws conclusions and offers some policy recommendations."

Part 2 draws on case studies. For example, Climate Asia studies show that people in India felt poorly informed about how to store or find new water supplies in a drought-stricken area, suggesting a role for media. In Pakistan, a programme is attempting to help farmers switch from sugar cane to sunflower production, but the villagers don't know how to access this outside help. The lesson drawn is that communication could support those coping with climate change and improve their resilience. According to BBC Media Action, messages attuned to audiences are fundamental. For example: surveys found that in India, a large part of the audience was interested in earning money as its highest value, while, in Pakistan, religious belief was most important and, in Bangladesh, respect from the community was most important. "Failure to understand the concerns, barriers and motivations of intended audiences and the media they use can lead to highly ineffective communication strategies..." Reaching rural populations is also critical because they are generally among those most affected by climate change.

As stated in the document, community involvement is needed for increasing neighbourhood awareness of resiliency practices or making larger scale agricultural adaptations. An example of media and community involvement is this radio competition in India: "...a community radio channel run by an NGO [non-governmental organisation] called Development Alternatives, [held] a competition encouraging people in rural areas to try new farming techniques and to share them with others. [The winners] successfully experiment[ed] with organic crops and manure, an agricultural technique that can help soil retain water."

The Climate Asia survey indicated an expectation of government support for adaptation, yet, found the opinion, among many, that there was a lack of institutional support. The survey found ways in which "institutional variation across countries can affect adaptation strategies." For example, in a country, like Pakistan, with low trust in government, adaptation strategies "could be more effective if they were executed directly with local communities, rather than via large government agencies in which citizens have less confidence." There, media "can provide those on the front line with a voice, help to identify needs and solutions, communicate these to authorities capable of intervening and then hold them to account when they do not." In contrast, Indonesia has trusted networks linking communities and government, "a result of the extensive grassroots governance systems embedded in Indonesian communities. Local leaders link communities directly with higher levels of government, such that policies initiated at the national level are fed down to the community via individuals who actually have an obligation - social and governmental - to act on these issues." Linking media to these existing trusted networks “is therefore highly expedient for communication strategies." Where the central government also controls media and communication, China, for example, the capacity to reach individuals and communities can be used to engage them in beneficial actions and behaviours. Media can particularly enhance messages through using language of agency rather than victimisation.

Policy work can be either in mitigation or adaptation. The language of Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) suggests the need for education, training, and public awareness and participation. However, there is a need for language on communication that brings these things to those most affected, including "where education levels are low, individual emissions are negligible and the risks of suffering from climate change are immediate....Article 6 thus presents an opportunity to reframe the global discussion about climate change and adaptation around the observations, needs and potential for action of those most likely to be harmed by climate change’s effects. Happily, another global policy debate looks set to enhance this possibility."

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) separate environment from other MDGs, but the effects of climate change can be seen in many of the other goals - child and maternal mortality rates, reducing poverty and hunger, etc., suggesting that creating a set of “Sustainable Development Goals" by weaving an environmental perspective throughout might be fundamental to the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Recommendations include the following:

• "Use language people understand...
• Focus first on what people need...
• Media can help.... Climate Asia research showed that "people who felt more informed and who were involved in communities that acted together were more likely to be taking action to respond to the changes they noticed and the impacts they felt. "Learn from the audience... [Where local solutions are available, p]ractitioners need to pay attention to those innovations and ensure that, where relevant to the context, they are shared."
• Tailor responses to the socio-political realities at hand...
• Media coverage of climate change....[I]f the shift towards a more resilience- oriented conversation around climate change takes hold, then the way the media report climate change will similarly shift in order to highlight the information needs of this new audience."
• Treat adaptation as a development problem...
• Realign adaptation funding to serve those on the front line...
• Use Article 6 as an opportunity to better define affected audiences and their information needs at the national level...."