Has ‘climate’ become a dirty word? This is the question being asked this morning here at the ‘Visions for a World You Like’ campaign at London City Hall. With global attention focused on the economic crisis and a certain level of fatigue setting in when it comes to warnings about climate change, how can policy makers get the public back on side? The point of this new EU communication campaign is to help citizens understand exactly what the climate change problem is and what they and their governments can do to help. But is the very fact that the Commission is launching a campaign like this now an acknowledgement that climate is so far off the public radar it has almost been forgotten? Climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard acknowledged this morning that “climate has fallen nearly off the agenda.”

(Dr. Benny Peiser)