Sains Malaysiana 42(8)(2013): 1027–1040

 

Platforms of Climate Change: An Evolutionary Perspective and Lessons for Malaysia

(Platform Perubahan Iklim: Perspektif Bersifat Evolusi dan Pengajaran untuk Malaysia)

 

 

Koh Fui Pin & Joy Jacqueline Pereira*

Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Institute (SEADPRI)

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43200 Bangi, Malaysia

 

Sarah Aziz

Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,

43200 Bangi, Malaysia

 

Received: 1 November 2011/Accepted: 3 April 2013

 

 

ABSTRACT

The discourse on climate change of both natural and anthropogenic origins has a long history, and the subject has been discussed from both scientific and social perspectives. This paper reports on a study that begins with a review of the historical perspective of the subject with a focus on the enhanced greenhouse effect from the 15th to 19th centuries by identifying the main discussion platforms and delineating their temporal and substantial interactions. The three main climate change platforms are the science platform, the media platform and the policy platform. The science platform is where theories related to the greenhouse effects and their enhancements are developed. The media platform comprises newspaper coverage on climate change themes, while the policy platform is mainly the UN and its decisions relating to climate change. The authors assert that if not for the discussions, attention and actions within each, the climate change discussion would not have become so intense and the climate change agenda would not have been furthered. It is observed that less attention is given to science-media interaction compared to science-policy interaction. Similarly, NGOs have received little attention in these platforms and their interactions. The second part of the paper presents a descriptive case study that was undertaken to discuss the climate change agenda at a national level to determine whether the national scenario will have a pathway similar to that of the global one. It is suggested that in Malaysia this agenda is more likely to be driven by policy. The country’s climate change policy is expected to address the needs and gaps identified in this study.

 

Keywords: Climate change; climate policy; climate science; environmental policy; Malaysia; media coverage

 

ABSTRAK

Wacana mengenai perubahan iklim kedua-dua asal-usul semula jadi dan antropogen mempunyai sejarah yang lama dan perkara ini telah dibincangkan daripada kedua-dua perspektif saintifik dan sosial. Kertas ini melaporkan satu kajian yang dimulakan dengan menilai semula platform-platform perbincangan utama perubahan iklim di peringkat antarabangsa dengan memberikan tumpuan kepada kesan rumah hijau yang semakin meningkat dari abad ke-15 sehingga ke-19 dan menggambarkan interaksi platform-platform tersebut secara temporal dan kepentingan. Tiga platform utama perubahan iklim adalah platform sains, platform media dan platform dasar. Platform sains ialah tempat teori-teori berkaitan dengan kesan rumah hijau dan peningkatan mereka dibangunkan. Platform media terdiri daripada liputan akhbar pada tema perubahan iklim, sementara platform dasar ialah PBB dan keputusannya yang berkaitan dengan perubahan iklim. Para penulis menegaskan bahawa jika tidak untuk perbincangan, perhatian dan tindakan dalam setiap platform, perbincangan perubahan iklim tidak akan menjadi begitu mendalam dan agenda perubahan iklim tidak akan dilanjutkan. Adalah diperhatikan bahawa kurang perhatian diberikan kepada interaksi sains-media berbanding dengan interaksi sains-dasar. Walau bagaimanapun, NGO telah menerima sedikit perhatian dalam ketiga-tiga platform tersebut dan interaksi mereka. Bahagian kedua kertas ini membentangkan satu kajian kes deskriptif yang telah dijalankan untuk membincangkan agenda perubahan iklim di peringkat kebangsaan untuk menentukan sama ada senario kebangsaan akan mempunyai satu trend yang serupa dengan yang global. Di Malaysia, agenda tersebut berkemungkinan didorong oleh dasar. Dasar perubahan iklim negara dijangka menangani keperluan dan jurang yang dikenal pasti dalam kajian ini.

 

Kata kunci: Dasar alam sekitar; dasar perubahan iklim; liputan media; Malaysia; perubahan iklim; sains perubahan iklim

REFERENCES

Agrawala, S. 1998a. Context and early origins of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Climatic Change 39: 605-620.

Agrawala, S. 1998b. Structural and process history of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Climatic Change 39: 621-642.

Agrawala, S. 1999. Early science-policy interactions in climate change: Lessons from the advisory group on greenhouse gases. Global Environmental Change 9: 157-169.

Andresen, S. & Agrawala, S. 2002. Leaders, pushers and laggards in the making of the climate regime. Global Environmental Change 12: 41-51.

Arrhenius, S. 1908. Worlds in the Making: The Evolution of the Universe. Translated by Borns, H. New York: Harper and Brothers.

Bodansky, D.M. 1993. The United Nations framework convention on climate change: A commentary. Yale Journal of Law. 18: 451-558.

Bostrom, A., Morgan, M.G., Fischhoff, B. & Read, D. 1994. What do people know about global climate change? 1. Mental Models. Risk Analysis. 14: 959-970.

Boykoff, M.T. 2008. Media and scientific communications: A case of climate change. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 305: 11-18.

Boykoff, M.T. & Roberts, J.T. 2007. Media coverage of climate change: Current trends, strengths, weaknesses. Occasional Paper, UNDP Human Development Report 2007/2008.

Callendar, G.S. 1938. The artificial production of carbon dioxide and its influence on temperature. Quarterly Journal of Royal Meteorological Society 64: 223-240.

Carpenter, C. 2001. Business, green groups and the media: The role of non-governmental organizations in the climate change debate. International Affairs 77: 313-328.

Corfee-Morlot, J., Maslin. M. & Burgess, J. 2007. Global warming in the public sphere. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 365: 2741-2776.

Doel, R.E. 2003. Constituting the postwar earth sciences: The military’s influence on the environmental sciences in the USA after 1945. Social Studies of Science 33: 635-666.

Fleming, J.R. 1998. Historical Perspectives of Climate Change. New York: Oxford University Press.

Fourier, Jean-Baptiste J. 1824. General remarks on the temperature of the earth and outer space. Translated by Ebenezer Burgess. America Journal of Science 32: 1-20.

Handel, M.D. & Risbey, J.S. 1992. An annotated bibliography on the greenhouse effect and climate change. Climatic Change 21: 97-255.

Hart, D.M. & Victor, D.G. 1993. Scientific elites and the making of US policy for climate change research, 1957-1974. Social Studies of Science 23(4): 643-680.

Hecht, A.D. & Tirpak, D. 1995. Framework agreement on climate change – a scientific and policy history. Climatic Change 29(4): 371-402.

Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI). 2009. Ninth Malaysia Plan (RMK9): Policy Study on Climate Change Final Report to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia.

InterAcademy Council. 2010. Climate Change Assessments, Review of the Processes and Procedures of the IPCC. Amsterdam: Committee to Review the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Kalnicky, R.A. 1974. Climatic change since 1950. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 64(1): 100-112.

Kellogg, W.W. 1987. Mankind’s impact on climate: The evolution of an awareness. Climatic Change 10: 113-136.

Lanchbery, J. & Victor, D. 1995. The Role of Science in the Global Climate Negotiations’. In Green Globe Yearbook of International Co-operation on Environment and Development 1995, edited by Helge Ole Bergesen, Georg Parmann, Oystein B. Thommessen. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Le Treut, H., Somerville, R., Cubasch, U., Ding, Y., Mauritzen, C., Mokssit, A., Peterson, T. & Prather, M. 2007: Historical overview of climate change. In Climate change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M. & Miller, H.L. Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA: Cambridge University Press. pp. 93-128.

Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Malaysia. 2010. Dasar Perubahan Iklim Negara (National Policy on Climate Change).

Paterson, M. & Grubb, M. 1992. The international politics of climate change. International Affairs 68: 293-310.

Revelle, R. & Suess, H.E. 1957. Carbon dioxide exchange between atmosphere and ocean and the question of an increase of atmospheric CO₂ during the past decades. Tellus 9(1): 18-27.

Seki, M. & Christ, R. 1995. Selected international efforts to address climate change. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 38: 141-153.

Sewell, G.C. 1996. Conflicting beliefs: National implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Environmental Impact Assessment Review 16: 137-150.

Seyfang, G. 2003. Environmental mega-conferences – from Stockholm to Johannesburg and beyond. Global Environmental Change 13: 223-228.

Siebenhüner, B. 2003. The changing role of nation states in international environmental assessments – the case of the IPCC. Global Environmental Change 13: 113-123.

Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Alley, R.B., Berntsen, T., Bindoff, N.L., Chen, Z., Chidthaisong, A., Gregory, J.M., Hegerl, G.C., Heimann, M., Hewitson, B., Hoskins, B.J., Joos, F., Jouzel, J., Kattsov, V., Lohmann, U., Matsuno, T., Molina, M., Nicholls, N., Overpeck, J., Raga, G., Ramaswamy, V., Ren, J., Rusticcucci, M., Somerville, R., Stocker, T.F., Whetton, P., Wood, R.A. & Wratt, D. 2007. Technical Summary. In Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change edited by Solomon, S., Qin, D., Manning, M., Chen, Z., Marquis, M., Averyt, K.B., Tignor, M. & Miller, H.L. Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA: Cambridge University Press. pp. 19-91.

Stanhill, G. 2001. The growth of climate change science: A scientometric study. Climatic Change 48: 515-524.

Starr, P. 2004. The Creation of the Media: Political Origins of Modern Communications. New York: Basic Books.

Tyndall, J. 1861. On the absorption and radiation of heat by gases and vapours, and on the physical connection of radiation, absorption, and conduction. Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science 22(4): 169-285.

United Nations. 1988. Protection of Global Climate for Present and Future Generations. General Assembly Resolution 53, 43. UN Document A/43/49. New York: United Nations.

United Nations. 1989. Protection of Global Climate for Present and Future Generations. General Assembly Resolution 207, 44. UN Document A/44/862. New York: United Nations.

United Nations. 1990. Protection of Global Climate for Present and Future Generations. General Assembly Resolution 212, 45. UN G.A.O.R. Supplement. (49) 147–149, UN Document A/45/49. New York: United Nations.

Ungar, S. 1992. The rise and (relative) decline of global warming as a social problem. The Sociological Quarterly 33(4): 483- 501.

Weart, S.P. 2004. The Discovery of Global Warming. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Wilson, K.M. 2000. Drought, debate, and uncertainty: Measuring reporters’ knowledge and ignorance about climate change. Public Understanding of Science 9: 1-13.

WMO. 1979. Proceedings of the World Climate Conference – a conference of experts on climate and mankind, 12-13 February 1979. WMO Publication No. 537. Geneva: World Meteorological Organization.

WMO. 1985. Report of the international conference on the assessment of the role of carbon dioxide and of other greenhouse gases in climate variations and associated impacts, 9-15 October 1985. WMO Publication No. 661. Geneva: World Meteorological Organization.

Zehr, S.C. 2000. Public representations of scientific uncertainty about global climate change. Public Understanding 9: 85-103.

 

*Corresponding author; email: joy@ukm.my