Climate Change in the Philippines

Construction and Reception of the Discourse on Climate Change in the Philippines

Abstract

Das Ziel des Projektes "Construction and reception of the discourse on climate change in the Philippines" ist es zu erfassen, wie der globale Klimawandeldiskurs als wissenschaftliches Konzept mit lokalem, traditionellem ökologischen Wissen über Natur, Umwelt und Wetter in Verbindung gebracht wird. Dabei soll einerseits der Wissenstransfer dieses Diskurses von seiner Produktion hin zur Rezeption nachgezeichnet werden, um zu verstehen, ob und wie er in welchen Bereichen Veränderungen erfährt. Dafür ist es andererseits ebenfalls notwendig, lokales Umweltwissen und kulturelle Annahmen über Wirkzusammenhänge zwischen Mensch und Umwelt zu erfassen, um die Einbettung des Diskurses in diese Wissenskonzepte verstehbar zu machen.

               

                                                                                                                                                                                                          _{^{Fotos: Thomas Friedrich}}

English Abstract

The goal of the phD project "Construction and reception of the discourse on climate change in the Philippines" is to understand how the global discourse on climate change is been perceived locally in the City of Puerto Princesa, Philippines. Climate change as a "travelling idea" (Hulme 2009) is produced by scientists on a global scale and been transported by the media, politicians or NGOs to all over the world. The project investigates two main parts: First, it analyzes the construction of the scientific discourse on the basis of the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). As the starting point from where the discourse spreads all over the world the assessment reports build the scientific fundament for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conferences where the climate change politics are negotiated internationally. From here and the IPCC itself the scientific discourse on climate change enters top-down national and local contexts affecting politics, civil society, media and local communities. Second, it explores how this discourse is received and interpreted by these local communities, by which cultural assumptions and other local discourses its perception and transformation is influenced and how it challenges human-environment relationships.