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A recent survey by the Climate Change Communication Program at Yale highlighted the knowledge and attitudes of Indians towards climate change, revealing that nearly 40% of respondents think nature is the primary cause of global warming.
The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) and the Centre for Voting Opinion & Trends in Election Research (CVoter) collaborated for the nationally representative survey conducted from September 5, 2023, to November 1, 2023. This survey, which involved 2,178 Indian adults, aimed to gauge public awareness, beliefs, attitudes, policy support, behavior, and self-reported vulnerability to extreme weather events related to climate change in India.
When asked if global warming is caused by human activities, natural changes, some other cause, or if it is not happening at all, 52% attributed it to human activities, 38% to natural changes, 1% to other causes, 2% believed it is not happening, and 6% were unsure or did not answer. In the 2021-2022 survey by Yale, 57% attributed it to human activities, 31% to natural changes, 1% to other causes, 2% believed it is not happening, and 10% were unsure or did not answer. This pointed to the fact that India is still lacking in terms of basic awareness about climate change and much still needs to be done.
CFC India reached out to Anthony Leiserowitz, Director, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, who is also one of the principal investigators of the study. Leiserowitz agreed that the finding of the study, indicating that 38% of Indians attribute climate change primarily to natural environmental changes, holds considerable significance, adding that the number is ‘not negligible.’
West vs East
Leiserowitz, however, pointed out that organized climate denial is almost non-existent in India and this 38% number is not due to disinformation campaigns seen in the West.
“It’s due to a simple lack of understanding that climate change is not just a natural cycle – which is the universal human default assumption, which was true throughout almost the entirety of our existence as a species. Climate deniers in the West (not India) have exploited and weaponized this default cultural assumption that climate change is natural for their own political and economic purposes. Fortunately, that has not happened (at least not yet) in India,” Leiserowitz told CFC India.
Climate has been a ‘natural’ concept
The fact that most of the tangible markers of climate change now, heatwaves, floods, droughts, cyclones, etc have always been understood as natural phenomena, supernatural powers or even acts of Gods, has led to many people across various cultures still believing them to be naturally occurring only.
“The scientific concept of climate change as caused by the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other invisible gases, which collect in the atmosphere, creating an invisible heat-trapping blanket around the entire world, trapping heat and driving weather extremes is a very new idea in human history. So it’s not surprising that many people still rely on the default cultural understanding that weather events are natural,” Leiserowitz further told CFC India adding that this can be overcomed only “with education and communication, which is why communicating accurate information about what climate change is, the causes, impacts, and solutions is so critical.”
Silver lining for India
Leiserowitz pointed out that good news for India is the fact that most Indians readily accept basic scientific facts about climate change once they are exposed to them.
“But they need to hear them – both because it’s vital that they understand what’s happening, and why, and start incorporating climate change into their future decisions AND because understanding these basic scientific facts protects them (inoculates them) against misinformation before they’re exposed to it,” Leiserowitz told CFC India.
Lack of awareness but willingness to update beliefs
Leiserowitz explained that this is best highlighted in the results of two other findings from their study. “A majority of Indians say they know little to nothing about climate change – in fact 32% say they’ve never heard of it. So there’s a fundamental problem of simple lack of awareness,” he said.
But when given a short definition, Leiserowitz said they found that 78% immediately say that global warming is happening. “Which strongly indicates that there’s not widespread resistance to the idea of climate change – people are quite willing and able to update their beliefs – when exposed to scientific facts,” he further explained.
Also, regarding a national program to educate all Indians about global warming, 78% strongly supported the idea.
Communication is the key
Leiserowitz at the end stressed on the fact that communication is the key here. “I think that currently, the single biggest communication challenge in India is raising public awareness of the basic facts of climate change – that it’s happening, human-caused, and impacting the people, places, and things we love right here, right now. And then, what the solutions are,” he said.
And added, “Like all societies, there are different publics within India, who are each at different stages of engagement with the issue – or different stages in their respective learning journeys. As communicators, we need to meet each of them where they are, and help them take the next step in their learning journey.” In the study, Leiserowitz and his colleague identified what they call Global Warming’s Four Indias, a segmentation analysis identified four unique global warming audiences in India: the Alarmed, the Concerned, the Cautious, and the Disengaged.
Reference: Climate Change in the Indian Mind, 2023
Global Warming’s Four Indias, 2022: An Audience Segmentation Analysis
Image: AI-generated
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