Investigating the Fault Line between Scientific Consciousness and Public Perception on Climate Change: A Critical Concern for

Abstract

Despite overwhelming scientific evidence of human contribution to detrimental effects of global climate change, there is an apparent decline in public acceptance to these facts. This situation has brought out an alarmingly downturn of momentum of people’s engagement in dealing with the rising challenges of climate change. This paper adds to the literature by exploring the gap between scientific consciousness and public perception as well as looking into the problem of informing and engaging the common public as an important stakeholder. This issue is likely to be an important constituent for future global climate negotiations. The paper further analyzes Indian initiatives for climate change policies to proactively engage people for a sustainable future. This review argues for future research to focus on the domain of social constructionist paradigm of local climate in translating science to action to overcome the gaps between scientific consciousness and public perception.

Key words: Climate change, scientific consciousness, public perception, climate negotiation and India’s climate policy