Leslie Mabon

Values, Places and Bodies: Opportunities for Forging a Deeper Understanding of Public Perceptions of Ccs?

This paper explores how theories and epistemological understandings from the disciplines of human geography and environmental ethics may be usefully deployed to further understanding of public perceptions of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS). In particular, the themes of values, place and embodied experience are explored in turn. The aim of doing this is to consider how reflection on some of the ‘deeper’ issues underpinning CCS projects has the potential to shed new light on how people come to hold particular viewpoints. This paper argues that alongside the endeavour of producing very practical advice and guidelines on public engagement in CCS, there is room to reflect critically on the contexts in which people form their perceptions of CCS and perform these perceptions. Doing this has the potential to offer new insights into what exactly it is publics may find troubling – or, indeed, appealing - about CCS.

Land use planning as a tool for balancing the scientific and the social in biodiversity and ecosystem services mainstreaming? The case of Durban, South Africa.

This paper evaluates the role of land-use planning, especially open space systems, in mainstreaming biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) at the urban level. Whilst there is increasing interest in BES mainstreaming to balance environmental protection with socio-economic development, there is also concern that BES thinking deflects attention from underlying social justice questions. Through the case study of Durban, South Africa – often held as an exemplar in BES mainstreaming – we argue open space systems can offer a pathway to BES mainstreaming that is both scientifically effective and socially just. Yet what makes this possible in Durban, we argue, is (1) a robust scientific evidence base deployed reflexively and sensitively; (2) a move towards explicit emphasis on providing benefits of BES to the most vulnerable people; and (3) supportive policy frameworks plus the presence of biodiversity managers able to navigate the political as well as scientific landscape.

Deliberative Decarbonisation? Assessing the Potential of an Ethical Governance Framework for Low-Carbon Energy through the Case of Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage

In this paper we explore the potential of a framework of ethical governance for low-carbon energy. Developing mainly in the field of information and communications technology, ethical governance is concerned with the marginalisation of ethical and moral issues during development and deployment of new technologies. Focusing on early carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) projects, we argue that a focus on technical arguments in the governance of low-carbon energy similarly risks sidelining deeper issues such as fairness, justice, and values. We believe an ethical governance approach does have potential for low-carbon energy technologies like CCS, but also that climate change mitigation technologies pose particular challenges for the implementation of ethical governance.

Engagement on risk and uncertainty – lessons from coastal regions of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan after the 2011 nuclear disaster?

This paper uses the case study of the south-east coast of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan to draw lessons for risk communication under situations of high uncertainty and conditions of varying trust. Based on an existing field of research into the social and ethical aspects of governing risks around environmental radioactivity, empirical qualitative material collected in Fukushima Prefecture over 2014 and 2015 is analysed around three key questions: who is undertaking risk communication and how they are perceived (in particular their motivations and perceived competence); what is the purpose of engagement with citizens and stakeholders on risk and uncertainty (i.e. whether it is to ‘convince’ people or allow them to come to their own informed decision); and whether risk communication may be considered responsive to the needs of the affected populations. The findings are then applied to Kasperson’s four questions for the future of risk communication in order to assess their wider implications. Particular attention is paid to how the individual or institution conveying the risk message is perceived, and in whose interests risk communication is undertaken.

Getting Buy-In for Climate Change Adaptation Through Urban Planning: Climate Change Communication as a Multi-way Process

This chapter evaluates the role of communication in building support for climate change adaptation through urban spatial planning. We take Durban in South Africa as our case study, a city with significant vulnerability to climate change which is widely regarded as having successfully implemented climate adaptation initiatives through spatial planning, despite a challenging socio-economic context. In particular, we aim to assess the role of communication in initiating and sustaining Durban’s climate adaptation initiatives, and evaluate wider lessons and challenges for the role of communication in climate change action with reference to social theory on science and environmental governance. We pay particular attention to the role of communication at the personal, institutional and municipal scale in eThekwini Municipality’s Municipal Climate Protection Programme, focusing on how framing and argumentation around the role the city’s open space system may support progress towards ecosystem-based adaptation. Drawing on a narrative literature review and associated content analysis of planning documentation and peer-reviewed literature, we argue that climate adaptation initiatives which carry multiple rationales in addition to the scientific basis for action stand the greatest chance of reaching implementation. We argue this is important because: (a) the complexity of governance structures mean many actors with different priorities and value positions must be engaged to enact policy; and (b) the short-term nature of political attention necessitates rationales that sustain their appeal to a broad range of viewpoints over time. We caution, however, that there is a need for ongoing critical reflection as to the grounds on which the ‘success’ of a climate adaptation intervention can be claimed, and that care must be taken to ensure a focus on framing and getting buy-in does not deflect attention away from debating the underlying causes of vulnerability.

Bursting bubbles: can experiments and analogues help stakeholders and the public visualise risks?

Laboratory experiments, natural analogues and pilot projects have been fundamental in developing scientific understanding of risk and uncertainty from georesource exploration. International research into CO2 and CH4 leakage provide scientific understanding of potential leakage styles, rates and environmental impacts. However, the value of these experiments as a communication tool for stakeholders and the wider public is often overlooked in the form of visual information and comparisons. Quantifiable laboratory experiments, measurement of gas at natural springs or controlled release of CO2 (e.g. Quantifying and Monitoring Potential Ecosystem Impacts of Geological Carbon Storage Project (QICS)) raise awareness and commitment to understanding environmental impacts and geological complexities. Visuals can greatly facilitate communication, and research into public understanding of the subsurface demonstrates that quality and scale of schematics can affect perceived risk. Here we consider how public perception of subsurface activities could be shaped by relevant and applicable research that shares accessible and visually engaging information. Could images showing bubbles of seeping gas, or showcasing monitoring methods and capabilities, help to contextualise risks and geoscientific concepts and shape opinions? Can these materials aid dialogue between the wider scientific community, publics and stakeholders? We propose that future projects could improve dialogue through use of context-appropriate visuals to enhance dialogue on risks, impacts and monitoring of subsurface engineering technologies.

Responsible Risk-Taking, or How Might CSR Be Responsive to the Nature of Contemporary Risks? Reflections on Sub-seabed Carbon Dioxide Storage in Scotland and Marine Radioactive Contamination in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

This chapter assesses the role of risk governance and risk communication in CSR, with particular reference to how an operator’s attention to the social dimensions of risk may affect its ability (or otherwise) to be granted a social licence to operate (SLO). This issue is explored through the lens of potential effects of energy infrastructure on the environment, with particular reference to sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage (as part of larger carbon dioxide capture and storage processes) and marine radioactive contamination following the Fukushima nuclear accident. I argue that due to the hugely value-laden nature of risk perception associated with energy and environmental change, honesty about uncertainties and remediation/contingency plans, sincerity in motivations for taking risks, and respect for public and stakeholder understandings of risk must all be considered as part of an operator’s risk management strategy. In terms of implications for thinking about CSR and SLOs, I conclude that the case studies presented reinforce extant thinking on the role of communities’ values in the granting of an SLO and the need for developers to on occasion go beyond their legal requirements for risk management if they are to receive an SLO. However, I also suggest that the potentially far-reaching impacts of energy technologies raise challenges for the traditional focus in SLO thinking on ‘local’ community effects, and for the assumption that the end goal should always be for a project to proceed in a particular location.

Charting Disaster Recovery via Google Street View: A Social Science Perspective on Challenges Raised by the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

There is increasing interest in using Google Street View (GSV) for research purposes, particularly with regard to “virtually auditing” the built environment to assess environmental quality. Research in this field to date generally suggests GSV is a reliable means of understanding the “real world” environment. But limitations around the dates and resolution of images have been identified. An emerging strand within this literature is also concerned with the potential of GSV to understand recovery post-disaster. Using the GSV data set for the evacuated area around the Fukushima Dai’ichi nuclear power plant as a case study, this article evaluates GSV as a means of assessing disaster recovery in a dynamic situation with remaining uncertainty and a significant value and emotive dimension. The article suggests that GSV does have value in giving a high-level overview of the post-disaster situation and has potential to track recovery and resettlement over time. Drawing on social science literature relating to Fukushima, and disasters more widely, the article also argues it is imperative for researchers using GSV to reflect carefully on the wider socio-cultural contexts that are often not represented in the photo montage.