Who speaks for the climate? Trying to make sense of media reporting on climate change

Maxwell T. Boykoff

At the moment there is no a single spokesperson for the global atmosphere; there are rather multiple competing interpretations of global warming. Mass media constitute the arena in which these different versions are presented and discussed. “Who Speaks for the Climate? Making Sense of Media Reporting on Climate Change”, by Maxwell T. Boykoff of the University of Colorado explores the different narratives around climate change. In Laura Caciagli’s interview, the author talks about the new role of media, highlighting the factors that influence media coverage of climate change.

published January 23rd, 2012
Category: Interviews
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The Challenge of Standardization in the Future Climate Policy

Corrado Clini and Francesco Presicce

New approaches to enhance mitigation action are currently being discussed in the context of the UNFCCC, in order to set the stage for the future of the Kyoto Protocol and for a larger involvement of all countries in emissions reduction policies. One of the issue under discussion is the implementation of existing mechanism, such as CDM. But the challenge is in setting up methodologies applicable to multiple projects, regardless of specific conditions. Corrado Clini, Director General of the Ministry of the Environment and Territory and Sea Protection of Italy, and Francesco Presicce, expert in sustainability, climate negotiation and energy, argue why it could be done in the perspective of the future UNFCC discussions.

published September 9th, 2011
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“Nuclear Decline, Coal Renaissance”

Ottmar Edenhofer

It is relatively cheap, it is abundant and its renaissance started before the Fukushima accident. In the future energy mix, gas and renewables will play an important role, but coal will be the most important source. That’s why we need to implement CCS and make it economically affordable if we want to meet our mitigation targets. Prof. Ottmar Edenhofer, in this interview conducted by Mauro Buonocore, talks about the future of energy, the opportunity of a European super-grid and proposes a two-track model for climate negotiations.

published May 19th, 2011
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The Three Million Years Ago Dilemma: the Beginning of the Ice Ages

Florence Colleoni

Will the climate reach a warm equilibrium and gradually cool? How will the climate respond to extreme warming on long time-scale variability? Will there be an abrupt glacial inception similar to previous glacials/interglacials?
Florence Colleoni (CMCC) looks at paleoclimate processes and focuses hypothesis about the Pliocene period, when the continental configuration was almost similar to present-day and when, until 3 Million years ago, the climate was warmer than today

published January 10th, 2011
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The Challenge of Limiting the Temperature Increase to 2°C

Corrado Clini

Is the traditional format of the agreements under the Climate Change Convention still adequate to meet the two degree target? Corrado Clini, Director General of the Ministry of the Environment and Territory and Sea Protection of Italy, suggests that the challenge is new, complex and unprecedented. “Rather than focusing on complex legal structures and the construction of a new international bureaucracy on climate change – Dr. Clini writes – Europe should focus on promoting international projects. These projects will face the global technological challenge using the great potential of the European integrated economy, which has already achieved important levels of efficiency and innovation”.

published November 22nd, 2010
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Challenges for a Post-Kyoto Agreement

Raymond J. Kopp

“The first issue is that anything that results in foreign policy from any particular government whether it’s a developed country or a developing country is really based on the domestic policies of those countries. You can’t have foreign policy without a foundation of domestic policy”. To achieve a new climate agreement we need both domestic and global policy, Ray Kopp (Resources for the Future – RFF) says in this video interview to Climate Science&Policy

published October 25th, 2010
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Levelling the Playing Field in a Fragmented Carbon Market: Do Carbon-Based Border Tax Adjustments Work?

Christa Clapp, Jean Chateau and Rob Dellink

There are two related issues of concern for countries taking on climate action. The first one is that some of their domestic industrial production will lose competitiveness; the second is that part of their efforts will be undermined by an increase in greenhouse gas emissions elsewhere, or “carbon leakage”. While the debate over protective measures continues focusing largely on carbon-based border tax adjustments (BTAs), Christa Clapp, Jean Chateau and Rob Dellink, economists at OECD, investigate several issues in the debate and focus on how and why BTAs fail to protect domestic industry, may reduce carbon leakage from the competitiveness channel and have cost and additional complications.

published September 8th, 2010
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How do scientists assess the skill of climate models?

Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch

Three surveys to understand climate scientists’ opinion on how well the components of climate of climate models would perform. A forth survey was made after the “Climategate” and the Copenhagen COP15. Hans von Storch and Dennis Bray, two climate scientists at Institute of Coastal Research, GKSS Research Center Geesthacht (Germany), interviewed their colleagues about their confidence in climate models

published August 18th, 2010
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Knowledge Claims in A Post-Normal Stage: Thoughts on Climate Science and Policy

Hans von Storch and Nico Stehr

The climate issue requires both scientific analysis and political decision-making. Perceiving climatic impacts, possibilities and necessities through the lens of political interests will hardly achieve long-term success. Quite to the contrary, a dispassionate scientific analysis is needed to present the various options in detail and thus to enable normative political decisions. To this end, climate research is in need of self-reflection. Fundamental scientific values such as contradiction, openness, sustainability, independence of individuals and falsification, enable science to unfold its potential as an action-guiding knowledge provider. For this purpose – Hans von Storch (GKSS Research Centre and) and Nico Stehr (Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen) explain – the natural sciences need input from the social sciences, cultural studies and a discerning public.

published July 6th, 2010
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International and Domestic Politics: Climate Change as a Two Level Game

Robert O. Keohane

International structure affects the foreign policy issues and the domestic politics; you have to do both sequentially and simultaneously. Prof. Robert Keohane (Princeton University) talks about international relations, cap-and trade and a “dual-leadership world” where Usa and China have to take the lead. But how can we get action from people and leaders in climate negotiations? “May be the Economy of Esteem could help us”, Prof. Keohane argues in this interview to Climate Science&Policy

published June 30th, 2010
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