The Climate Dictionary: An everyday guide to climate change
Credit: UNDP.
Anyone who has spent time wading through most of the available (and generally long) reports on climate change will know that these come bundled with reams of jargon that will make most non-specialist's eyes water. As a communications specialist, I am one of those people. I have had many instances of watering eyes!
So, I’m happy to see the recently released "Climate Dictionary: An everyday guide to climate change" from UNDP. It’s an easy-to-use resource that definitely makes climate change language easier to digest. I just found out about it over the weekend and have already used it for some climate change work I’m busy with.
Explaining climate change (and associated concepts) in simple language is one of the biggest challenges for effective communication about the climate crisis. (Read why words matter when it comes to climate action).
After more than 10 years in this space, I still find a lot of the jargon-heavy and wonky material tough to understand. This is a welcome step in the right direction!
I hope to see simpler, clearer language used in upcoming climate change reports from the big institutions.
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Brendon Bosworth is a science communication trainer and the principal consultant at Human Element Communications.
