Climate Change Discourse: Scientific Claims in a Policy Setting

Abstract

The scientific knowledge associated with the phenomenon of climate change is presented and circulated in a variety of text and talk aimed at audiences with different knowledge backgrounds and agendas. Language is crucial in the presentation of scientific issues, but to date few climate change studies have taken a point of departure in linguistics. This paper explores some linguistic and discursive features of a text from the IPCC, the Summary for Policymakers of the Fourth Assessment’s Synthesis Report (2007). This document is based on scientific papers but addressed to policymakers, something which we argue makes it an example of knowledge asymmetry. It represents the formally agreed statement of the IPCC concerning key findings and uncertainties regarding climate change. We consider how this discourse is constructed, being situated somewhere between scientific and political discourse. We focus specifically on two features: the nature of knowledge claims and the use of polyphonic (multivoiced) constructions. Climate change knowledge is characterised by complexity and uncertainty. The discussion of knowledge claims takes its point of departure in these characteristics and focuses primarily on how the uncertainty aspect is mediated to a non-scientific audience. In the polyphonic analysis, we explore to what extent the linguistic form is multi-voiced, which voices are included, and to what extent the sources of the voices are made explicit. The purpose is to explain how claims and voices orient the discursive argumentation in climate communication.