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Reports & guides | 13 May 2014

Science & stories: Bringing the IPCC to life

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A report on how the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) can communicate better with the public.  We based our report on interviews with key expert ‘witnesses’, and it concludes that the IPCC must adopt new ways of presenting its work and engaging the public and media.

Facts are not enough.  We are not arguing that the IPCC has failed.  Its job is to present policy makers with a robust assessment of the latest climate science.  But it is clear that presenting the world with information is not creating the political change we need.  More facts and more information are unlikely to convince the public in the future.

Our key recommendation is that the IPCC must use human stories as well as science.  Human stories that illustrate the impacts of climate change.  And the IPCC authors and key figures should also allow the public an insight into their work, motivations, fears and hopes.

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