PA31C:
The Ethics of Providing Climate Information in the Developing World Posters


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Session ID#: 52920

Session Description:
Climate information is inherently uncertain, and the production, communication, and use of such information is often permeated with unexamined values and assumptions.  This panel will explore questions such as:

  • The differences between values and ethics, and how these may lead to contestation in the construction, delivery, and uptake of climate information;
  • How the process of producing climate information is informed and guided by values and assumptions, and how those values influence the actions of those using it;
  • How confidence in the information is determined and communicated, and to what extent the producers or users carry responsibility for the embedded uncertainty;
  • What level of confidence is appropriate to base policy recommendations or actions; and
  • Appropriate bounds of climate scientist involvement in decision-making.

This panel session is intended to provide scientists with a better understanding of the ethical issues associated with communicating climate information for decision-making in the developing world.

Primary Convener:  Tegan Blaine, U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa, Washington, DC, United States
Conveners:  Christopher David Jack, University of Cape Town, Climate System Analysis Group, Cape Town, South Africa, Bruce Hewitson, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa and Ana Bucher, World Bank, Washington, DC, United States
Primary Liaison:  Tegan Blaine, U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa, Washington, DC, United States
Chairs:  Tegan Blaine, U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa, Washington, DC, United States and Bruce Hewitson, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
OSPA Liaison:  Tegan Blaine, U.S. Agency for International Development, Bureau for Africa, Washington, DC, United States

Cross-Listed:
  • GC - Global Environmental Change
Index Terms:

1630 Impacts of global change [GLOBAL CHANGE]
6309 Decision making under uncertainty [POLICY SCIENCES]
6334 Regional planning [POLICY SCIENCES]
6620 Science policy [PUBLIC ISSUES]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Whose Ethics? Which Values? And Where Do We Find Them, Anyway, When Producing and Using Climate Science for Enhancing Water and Energy Security in the Developing World?” (442913)
Dr. Jeffrey Richard Arnold, US Army Corps of Engineers, Climate Preparedness and Resilience Programs, Jacksonville, FL, United States, Martyn P Clark, University of Calgary, Department of Civil Engineering, Schulich School of Engineering, Calgary, AB, Canada, David N Yates, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Research Applications Laboratory, Boulder, United States, Andrew W Wood, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, United States, Ethan D Gutmann, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, Hydrometeorological Applications Program, Research Applications Laboratory, Boulder, United States and Caspar M. Ammann, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, United States
Communicating climate information that engages a community’s knowledge and values (438391)
William J Gutowski Jr, Iowa State University, Geological & Atmospheric Sciences, Ames, IA, United States and Linda S Shenk, Iowa State University, English, Ames, IA, United States
Urban climate risk in sub-Saharan Africa: science, ethics, and values (377991)
Christopher Jack, University of Cape Town, Climate System Analysis Group, Cape Town, South Africa

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