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Climate Change 2016
October 27-29, 2016
Volume 7, Issue 9(Suppl) J Earth Sci Clim Change
ISSN: 2157-7617 JESCC, an open access journal
conferenceseries .com
October 24-26, 2016 Valencia, Spain
World Conference onClimate Change
Integrating the technical and human dimensions of climate change: Communication, culture, conflict
and collaboration
Gregg B Walker
Oregon State University, USA
C limate policies, such as those featured in the Paris Agreement, are grounded in the arenas of scientific and technical
information. The reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasize, understandably, scientific
and technical aspects of climate change. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) includes
a negotiating group, the subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA) that, as its name states, addresses science
and technology. Climate science serves as the primary driver for climate policy; but climate policy becomes meaningful through
climate practice. Consequently, climate science and climate practice together provide the essential foundation for efficacious
climate policy. And the practices of climate change – the enactment of policies related to all aspects of climate change (e.g.,
mitigation, adaptation, finance, technology, capacity building) rely on human dimensions. The IPCC and UNFCCC have
focused on scientific and technical aspects of climate change, but as climate policy turns to implementation, human dimensions
become increasingly important. This paper focuses on four human dimensions “Cs” of climate change factors that are critical
to enacting sound climate policy in practice. The four factors communication, culture, conflict and collaboration should be
addressed substantially for climate practice to achieve climate policy goals. The paper discussed these four “Cs” and illustrates
their importance through an analysis of one mitigation-related area – REDD+ and one adaptation-related area – loss and
damage. The essay contends that for climate policies to be effective in practice, the scientific/technical and human dimensions
need attention and integration.
Biography
Gregg B Walker is a faculty member in the communication, environmental sciences, forestry, geosciences and public policy programs at Oregon State University. He
teaches courses in conflict management, negotiation, mediation and environmental conflict resolution and science communication. He conducts conflict management
training programs, designs and facilitates public participation processes about environmental policy issues and researches community-level collaboration efforts. He
works with the National Collaboration Cadre of the US Forest Service and the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. He leads climate change project
teams for Mediators beyond Borders and the International Environmental Communication Association and has attended the last seven COPs.
Gregg B Walker, J Earth Sci Clim Change 2016, 7:9(Suppl)