Brexit result must not slow European cooperation on climate change

European countries must continue cooperating with each other on global issues like climate change, regardless of the recent referendum result in the UK.

Brexit makes understanding different nations’ perceptions even more important. By understanding how different European countries perceive climate change, progress can be made towards addressing the issue.

How do the culture and politics of a country shape its citizens’ perceptions of climate change? Do different European nations vary in their support for different energy technologies? And how have extreme weather events influenced national views about climate change, as climate impacts start to bite? The European Perceptions of Climate Change (EPCC) project has been designed to answer precisely these kinds of questions.

In the context of a crucial moment for European climate policy, this project addresses a significant knowledge gap with regard to European public engagement with climate change. While attitudes to climate change have been well documented in individual European countries, their designs have never been coordinated.

This two year project is being led by Cardiff University, with an inter-disciplinary project team from Institut Symlog, University of Stuttgart, University of Bergen, and Climate Outreach. It is funded by the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI).

See the Climate Outreach report “European Perceptions of Climate Change – profiles for France, Germany, Norway and the UK.”

Reaching out across the faiths to understand climate change

Wrestling with and understanding climate change demands that we cross many boundaries, including those of the world’s faiths and beliefs.

Climate Outreach (formerly COIN) is a charity focused on building cross-societal acceptance of the need to tackle climate change.

Climate Outreach says: “We have over 10 years of experience helping our partners to talk and think about climate change in ways that reflect their individual values, interests and ways of seeing the world.

“We work with a wide range of partners including central, regional and local governments, charities, business, faith organisations and youth groups.”

And now, George Marshall, who is the Director of Projects at Climate Outreach, has been the lead author in a document that explores the narratives of five religious groups and how they relate to climate change.

He and the Research Director at Climate Outreach, an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Psychology at Cardiff University, Dr Adam Corner; a researcher and project coordinator at Climate Outreach, Olga Roberts; and the Executive Director of Climate Outreach, Jamie Clarke, have written the document - “Faith and Climate Change: A guide to talking with the five major faiths.”

Take the opportunity to learn more about this aspect of understanding the diverse views and approached to climate change by joining a webinar discussing the issue at 3:00am Eastern Standard Time on March 10.

Learn more about the webinar and register here.