Citizens' perspectives on climate change and energy use

In the beginnings of climate change policy, results from the natural scienc es were essential for motivating the establishment of global change diploma cy. At present it is increasingly being recognised that these results must be combined with findings from the social sciences if effective climate pol icy is to emerge. In particular, participatory techniques for the involveme nt of stakeholders, ranging from ordinary citizens to business people, are needed. The paper presents the methodology of Integrated Assessment (IA)-Fo cus Groups, designed primarily for involving citizens in Integrated Assessm ents of complex issues like climate change. It focuses on collages produced by European IA-Focus Group participants faced with alternative possibiliti es of energy use. The results suggest that citizens across Europe see stron g reductions of current levels of energy use as more desirable than a busin ess-as-usual perspective, Moreover, they indicate that the opinion formatio n by citizens is by no means restricted to unambiguous stereotypes. We rela te these findings to the concept of 'reflexive modernisation', stressing th e importance of uncertainty and ambiguity in environmental debates. Implica tions for representing uncertainty in IA models are discussed. (C) 2000 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.