Speaker: John Chung-En Liu
John Chung-En LIU, postdoctoral fellow, Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School
Sponsored by the China Project, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; co-sponsored by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, Harvard Kennedy School, and the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Abstract:
This talk will draw data from surveys, discussions on Weibo (China’s Twitter), and books to provide a snapshot of how the Chinese public understands and discusses climate change. Overall, we have found that while there is little doubt on climate science, Chinese citizens have only weak awareness and knowledge of climate change. Climate change is also low on the popular policy agenda. We especially observe that nationalism is a powerful lens to understand climate change: on the one hand, it can spur rapid responses in the name of national development; on the other hand, it can also frame climate change alarmism as a western conspiracy. As a result, the politics and science of climate change are always intertwined in China. The Chinese case suggests that taking local contexts into account is essential when communicating climate change to the public.