Government plans to improve and clarify public

Government plans to improve and clarify public

communication of climate science

Adrian O’Dowd

London, UK

The government has promised to take steps to improve and

clarify the communication of climate science to the general

public in a newly published official response document.

1

of coordination among government, its agencies, and public

bodies on communicating this science, despite various policies

to tackle climate change.

In its official response published on 23 June, the government

addressed several of the committee’s conclusions and

recommendations.

The committee had accused the government and other bodies

of failing to make effective use of the internet or social media

to engage with the public and provide accurate scientific

information, even though those sources were increasingly

of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) uses Twitter and other

forms of social media to engage on a range of issues, including

climate change.

Nevertheless, the government accepted that there was room for

improvement and said: “We are taking some specific steps to

improve the communication of climate science, particularly

through improving the presentation of climate science on

‘.gov.uk.’ Refreshed pages will be comprehensive, simple, and

impactful.”

It would also provide information on commonly held climate

clarification on key aspects of climate science that were often

misunderstood.

greenhouse gas emissions by 80% (from 1990 levels) by 2050,

was “the most ambitious piece of climate legislation in the

world,” it said.

The government strongly rejected one of the main conclusions

of the committee—that its “hands-off approach” to engaging

with the public and the media and heavy reliance on scientists

had led to a “vacuum that has allowed inaccurate arguments to

flourish with little effective challenge.”

It said in its response: “We do not agree with this conclusion.

Public concern about climate change remains high, and

through our support to the Met Office and the research councils.

However, the government cannot, and should not, seek to either

replace, or coordinate, the real experts.”

1 Communicating climate science: government response to the committee’s eighth report

of session 2013-14. www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201415/cmselect/cmsctech/

376/37602.htm.

2 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. Communicating climate science:

eighth report of session 2013–14. www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/

cmsctech/254/25402.htm.

Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g4247