Climate Change Communication in Mexico

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science. Please check back later for the full article. Mexico has always stood out as an active and committed participant at international meetings on climate change; it was one of the first countries to fulfill the mandates of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has submitted five national communications. Furthermore, in the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) held in Cancun, Mexico, in 2011, the Mexican government proposed the creation of a Green Climate Fund (GCF), which was approved and is already operating. Interest in climate change has increased within political, economic, and environmental domains. In the past, most academic and social studies focused on knowledge, beliefs, perception, and social representation of climate change, and only a few of them spoke to the communication process. Moreover, most inquiries centered on the review of literature or descriptive studies for specific samples. Specifically on climate change communication research, there is still a lot to be done; only a few studies on the subject have been completed. Most of the publications show campaigns, workshops, or educational programs that aim to increase knowledge and improve understanding of climate change. The National Strategy on Climate Change along with the Special Program on Climate Change included two lines of action: a) risk perception research and divulgation, and b) risk communication and environmental education. However, it was not until 2006 that the government started to invest in campaigns about climate change, like an internet portal, chats and workshops, stories for kids, or guides for efficient use of household energy. By 2007 and 2008, attention came not only from scientists but also from society; this was due mainly to coverage of the topic in the mass media, along with several publications for specific audiences (children, young, adults, specialists, politicians, and stakeholders). From 2008 to 2014, climate change topics were introduced in educational and cultural programs for students, especially at elementary and high school levels. Also, several publications and videos were released for the general public. In 2015, the first dialog between journalists was held to emphasize the important roll that journalists have when they broadcast scientific information. Nowadays, politicians and stakeholders are the main actors on communicating climate change, leaving academics, journalists, and broadcasters aside. Concerning the main topics, threats and disasters dominate the headlines, while information about mitigation or adaptation are hardly mentioned. Around the world, as well as in Mexico, there is a new discourse focused on future perspectives, accountability, and social legacy instead of immediacy. Mexico has enough material and technological infrastructure: mass media, libraries, museums, communication technologies, among others. However, these have been underutilized, because mass media treatment of ecological subjects have been fugacious, irregular, and surviving, limiting their development and strengthening.</p

Air Pollution and Climate Change Risk Perception among Residents in Three Cities of the Mexico Megalopolis

Recent reports of the criteria pollutants in the Megalopolis, located in the central part of Mexico, consistently show air quality standard exceedances in most of the cities that make it up, since it is a large concentration where approximately 17% of the national population resides and because it has significant commercial and industrial development. To investigate the similarities and disparities in risk perception concerning air pollution and climate change among residents living in Central Mexico, a cross-sectional survey study was carried out within three metropolitan areas encompassed by the Megalopolis. A total of 1750 questionnaire surveys were conducted across 21 municipalities within the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA), 16 municipalities within the Toluca Valley Metropolitan Area (TVMA), and 8 municipalities within the Cuernavaca Metropolitan Area. The three metropolitan areas showed significant differences in terms of air quality perception, risk perception, attitudes, and causal attribution perception, but health-related perception did not have significant differences among the areas. The MCMA exhibited higher knowledge about air pollution, although it associated the causes with urban activities such as car usage, while the Toluca and Cuernavaca areas linked this issue to the burning of garbage, coal, wood, and agricultural activities. Although residents expressed concern about air pollution, climate change, and their effects, they do not know how to act to contribute to the solution

Recuperaciones diversas ante el proceso de desastre. Reflexiones y perspectivas para México

El libro “Recuperaciones diversas ante el proceso de desastre. Reflexiones y perspectivas para México” nace de la necesidad de entender y atender una fase específica de la gestión integral del riesgo de desastres, concebida como política pública: la recuperación. Un problema que se encuentra en el núcleo epistemológico y normativo de la idea de gestión integral de riesgos de desastre. Los autores buscamos documentar y analizar procesos que inciden directamente en la recuperación en diferentes sectores, visibilizando los problemas teóricos y prácticos que deben ser parte de nuevas agendas de investigación para el replanteamiento de las intervenciones del Estado y la sociedad civil. Dicha perspectiva multidisciplinar nos ayuda a analizar un conjunto diverso de problemas que ocurren en los años posteriores a un impacto, y que pueden ser igual o más graves que los daños y pérdidas ocurridos durante la fase crítica. Nos referimos, por ejemplo, a problemas psicosociales no atendidos; violaciones a derechos humanos derivadas de un deficiente diseño e implementación de políticas públicas, o la profundización de condiciones de vulnerabilidad de personas o colectivos especialmente frágiles, como las personas mayores o en condición de movilidad forzada. La recuperación como parte del proceso de desastre ayuda a entender cómo las respuestas de mediano y largo alcance pueden constituir la base para nuevos ciclos o hélices del mismo.</jats:p