Cultural dimensions of climate change are underestimated, overlooked and misunderstood
The impact of climate change on many aspects of cultural life for people all over the world is not being sufficiently accounted for by scientists and policy-makers. University of Exeter-led research by an international team shows that cultural factors are key to making climate change real to people and to motivating their responses.
The impact of climate change on many aspects of cultural life for people all over the world is not being sufficiently accounted for by scientists and policy-makers. Experts at the University of Exeter led an international team in a study which shows that cultural factors are key to making climate change real to people and to motivating their responses.
From enjoying beaches or winter sports and visiting iconic natural spaces to using traditional methods of agriculture and construction in our daily lives, the research highlights the cultural experiences that bind our communities and are under threat as a result of climate change. The paper argues that governments’ programmes for dealing with the consequences of climate change do not give enough consideration to what really matters to individuals and communities.
Culture binds people together and helps them overcome threats to their environments and livelihoods. Some are already experiencing such threats and profound changes to their lives. For example, the Polynesian Island of Niue, which experiences cyclones, has a population of 1,500 with four times as many Niueans now living in New Zealand. The research shows that most people remaining on the island resist migrating because of a strong attachment to the island. There is strong evidence to suggest that it is important for people’s emotional well-being to have control over whether and where they move. The researchers argue that these psychological factors have not been addressed.
Lead researcher Professor Neil Adger, of the University of Exeter's Geography department, said: “Governments have not yet addressed the cultural losses we are all facing as a result of global climate change and this could have catastrophic consequences. If the cultural dimensions of climate change continue to be ignored, it is likely that responses will fail to be effective because they simply do not connect with what matters to individuals and communities. It is vital that the cultural impact of climate change is considered, alongside plans to adapt our physical spaces to the changing environment.”
Professor Katrina Brown, from the University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute at the Cornwall Campus, adds: “The evidence is clear; when people experience the impacts of climate change in places that matter to them, the problems become real and they are motivated to make their futures more sustainable. This is as true in coastal Cornwall as in Pacific Islands.”
This work was funded by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UK Economic and Social Research Council (K Brown Professorial Fellowship) and the Australian Government through CSIRO Adaptation Flagship and Australian Research Council.
Date: 9 November 2012
I have not really thought about the cultural implications of climate change in much detail before. I always felt they were of course an issue, however, other seemingly more serious affects always take up more of my consideration which is evidently what has happened with scientists and policy-makers. For example, the threats of death, starvation, famine, economic recession, to name but a few. I think the key point has been made here that the protection of unique ways of life need to be considered further and methods of adapting to change developed that also protect the culture of people's individual lives. Imagine the culture that makes up your life and society, the skills you have developed to exist in this society, the hobbies and places you enjoy, were all taken from you or made irrelevant because climate change had rendered them impossible? How can people easily adapt to this psychologically as well as physically? Wouldn't you find it to difficult to accept that this was happening and that those causing climate change hadn't even considered it? Global warming will not just affect the earth's climate but our own personal climates that make up our lives and identities. It is unlikely that our lives will go untouched and, for me, adapting our lives to combat climate change and other environmental problems seems far more preferable to losing everything we hold dear.
Vital questions here we can consider. What do you think?
