Public understanding of climate change in urban Bangladesh

Climate change is a complex problem without clear scientific and political solutions.The aim of this thesis is to examine the determinants and dimensions of public understanding of, response to climate change which could help to design effective public communication strategies and workable mitigation policies. This study uses mixed methodology approach to explore a variety of potentially salient influences on perception of and behavioural response to climate change. A purposive random sampling procedure was used to select 172 representative samples from Dhaka city, Bangladesh. The results indicate that there is a solid awareness and support for general environmental goals at local levels; an awareness and concern for climate change but limited understanding of scientific causes, possible consequences and solutions to the problem ; considerable perceived threat from climate change although it is not a “front burner” issue compare to other socio-economic and environmental issues. This thesis attempts to make some tentative recommendations on how community perceptions of climate change can be used by policy makers in the Bangladesh.