ALM UNDP

Summary:

Is Climate Change Real or Just a Phantom? What Some Southeast Asians Think About It

Dr. Lorna M. Calumpang, Ms. Bernadette P. Joven, and Mr. Dione Christian A. Baracol

Summary In October 2008 our group at SEARCA made a survey on how peoples of Southeast Asia think and what they know about Climate Change. Is the danger accompanying it real for them, or just a phantom?

We drafted a questionnaire to find out what people think about climate change. We also wanted to know what was a credible information for them, and how would they want this information reach them to help them know more about climate change.

Our results showed that respondents who came the academe, and/or holding key positions, on the average, on climate change, were moderately (48%) to completely informed (26%) about Climate Change and related themes. Majority of the respondents (95%) said that temperatures have been getting hot for the last five years in their respective countries. As to the seriousness of climate change, only 2% of them rated it as not a serious issue; the rest rated climate change as moderately serious to very serious issue

We asked the respondents who they considered most credible as sources of information on climate change; and following from most to least credible, here is their ranking: friends (mostly researchers) family members, government officials, teachers and mass media.

Website. The website ranked as one of the top ten that the respondents preferred for their access of information. We asked them what information would they be interested if a website were constructed to address their concerns. Again, ranked from highest to lowest: best practices, indigenous practices, international polices, adaptation technologies, and mitigation technologies.

The results of this qualitative study give us the following insights: 1. The issue on climate change and its negative impact on the environment carries with it an acknowledgment and a growing concern from the academic community that it exists and that it will create havoc to people and their immediate environment. 2. If we were to address the information needs of academic community, we would try to pick up their ranking of information that they find most relevant to them so we can equip them some more (increase their level of confidence) to serve as resource persons to the laypeople (e.g. current initiatives, fact sheets, bulletin board/discussion forum, etc.) 3. If they were to be included as one of users of a website, then for this website to be highly useful to them, we have to also include information that they consider relevant for them (e.g. best practices, indigenous practices, international policies, etc.)