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Abstract
This paper evaluates the role of socio-cultural issues in developing climate information services that are accessible and engaging to urban communities. Two public-facing city-level climate information provision initiatives in Japan are evaluated in light of theory in environmental risk communication. The first case is Fukuoka City, Kyushu, in particular increased flood and heat risk. The second case is Tomakomai City, Hokkaido, particularly municipal data provision on potential localised climate risks related to marine environmental change. Evaluation is undertaken through in-depth interviews with local-level actors (policymakers, scientists, NGOs, citizens), and field observation in each location. The paper argues that at a stage where principles and best practices on climate information service provision are still emerging, it is crucial to avoid assumptions about what communities will want to know about climate risks. The paper hence proposes principles for more appropriate climate risk communication. These include (a) identifying which institutions citizens look to for information on local weather and climate; (b) acknowledging that publics can, in appropriate contexts, be able and willing to engage with complex information on urban climate risk; and (c) considering how data-driven information services fit with the more informal ways in which people can experience environmental change.
Highlights
This paper clarifies issues around developing effective urban climate information services, through analysis of the cases of Fukuoka and Tomakomai cities in Japan
The paper finishes with an extended conclusion, which makes recommendations for policy- and decision-makers responsible for implementing public-facing climate information services at the city level
The first recommendation is that urban climate policy-makers should not underestimate citizens' and peripheral stakeholders' awareness of climate change issues, or their willingness to engage with potentially complex data
Summary
This paper clarifies issues around developing effective urban climate information services, through analysis of the cases of Fukuoka and Tomakomai cities in Japan. For the purposes of this paper, climate information services are understood in accordance with the definition of Visbeck (2008: 2), as “assessment and forecasting capability that gives public and private decision makers worldwide the best possible information on likely climatic developments from months to many decades.” Hewitt et al (2012) continue that the objective of climate services is making society resilient to climate-related hazards. This paper focuses on climate information services intended for members of the public and stakeholders with less techno-scientific information and involvement in policy-making processes – which hereafter are termed ‘public-facing’ climate information services. Along with increasing interest in cities as sites for both problems and solutions relating to climate change (Bai et al, 2018), there is rising awareness that engagement with and participation of society at large is critical if actions intended to reduce climate risk are to take root (Romero-Lankao et al, 2018).
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