The Coalition for Climate Literacy has evolved to the Climate Literacy Network.

Call to Establish the

Coalition for Climate Literacy

At a meeting in April 2007, in Washington DC, several organizations met to define an initial framework for climate literacy that is scientifically accurate, pedagogically sound and can serve as a common foundation for climate education, outreach and communications. The participants also felt the need to establish a long-term coalition—one that would unite us in our common mission of climate literacy, and support communication and collaboration among us. The draft statement below attempts to define the goals and activities of the proposed Coalition for Climate Literacy.

As the world confronts the reality of global climate change, education has emerged as a crucial issue. An informed public understands the natural and human factors that affect climate, comprehends the potential large-scale impacts of climate change and considers responsibly the personal and societal choices that might help reduce the rate and magnitude of anthropogenic induced global climate change to lead to resilient communities and a sustainable world. This requires a multi-faceted approach to climate education in schools and more broadly for the public, media and policy makers, with the support and direct involvement of the climate research community.

The climate system is a complex, non-linear system of interacting components that impacts and is impacted by human activities. Even with recent increases in awareness about the role of humans in altering the climate through activities such as fossil fuel combustion, there remain throughout society substantial misconceptions and lack of understanding about the fundamental dynamics of climate, including the role of the flow of energy and matter with the components of the Earth system in shaping climate, the impact of feedback processes on amplifying or reducing change, and natural variability on time scales ranging from seconds to the age of the Earth.

Recognizing the importance of climate literacy, a wide range of individuals and organizations have launched climate education and information programs. These include school curriculum materials, books, museum exhibits, web-sites, movies and even podcasts. These resources present basic concepts of regional and global climate system, the dynamics and interconnections of the components of the Earth system, natural climate cycles, and the evidence for and implications of human-induced climate change. They also develop essential skills of scientific thinking and creative problem-solving.

To support synergy among these diverse efforts and to effectively address fundamental misconceptions and gaps in understanding climate processes, we propose to establish the Coalition for Climate Literacy. This coalition will support communication and collaboration among members in order to share expertise and information to more effectively advocate for climate literacy. The Coalition will:

• promote educational initiatives at local, state, national and global levels
• support efforts to identify the major concepts and ideas that define climate literacy
• share best practice ideas and resources.

The Coalition will form a virtual community, using digital communications for most of its networking. This will include a web site for sharing news, resources and links, an e-mail list among the members, an e-newsletter, and telephone telecons. Members will also meet in person at scientific, educational, and other relevant conferences.