Workshop on Sociological Perspectives on Global Climate Change

Paul C. Stern

National Research Council

Notes for NSF Workshop on Sociological Perspectives on Climate Change

What do we know: What does social science bring to the table for studying the human dimensions of global
climate change?

In March of this year, I coauthored a discussion paper for the National Research Council (NRC) Committee
on Strategic Advice to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program entitled “Fundamental Research Priorities to
Improve the Understanding of Human Dimensions of Climate Change.” My coauthor, Thomas J. Wilbanks,
chairs the NRC’s Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change. The paper, which draws on a long
series of NRC reports over two decades, offers a broad perspective on research accomplishments and needs that
are fundamentally inter- and multidisciplinary, but that have plenty of room for input from sociology. This memo
lists the research priorities we identified and adds brief comments to indicate roles for sociology in relation to
some of the priorities. I can make the full discussion paper available on request.

A fundamental underlying point is that climate change is usefully understood as a process that creates
risks to people, organizations, and communities, to things they value. Responses to climate change are usefully
understood as risk management responses. In addition, human activities determine the risks through three main
pathways:

•    Biophysical transmission of risk—human activities “drive” climate change through emissions of

greenhouse gases, land cover changes, and other factors affecting the heat balance of the planet.

•    Socioeconomic shaping of vulnerability—human activities make people differentially vulnerable to

biophysical hazards (e.g., development in hurricane paths, increased water demand in regions where water

supply is tight and getting tighter, dependence on local food supplies when local agriculture is threatened)

•    Socioeconomic shaping of response capability—socioeconomic processes distribute resources to respond,

including money, information, emergency response capabilities, organizational flexibility, public policies,

etc.

What do we need to know: What are the major sociological and human dimensions research questions?

Thinking of climate change in a risk management framework can open many avenues for sociological research to
inform and improve society’s ability to deal with climate change. The discussion paper identifies three kinds of
priorities for both fundamental and more action-oriented research.

Substantive Research Priorities for Fundamental Research

(1) Improving the understanding of environmentally significant consumption (e.g., Why do we have

smaller and smaller families living in larger and larger houses? How do cultural factors shape ideas

of the good life in ways that lead to environmental consumption? What is the link between economic

consumption and environmental consumption? How do production and marketing decisions for consumer

products drive the behaviors that drive climate change?)