Kjersti Fløttum in a panel discussion at the climate festival Varmere, Våtere, Villere

The climate festival Varmere, Våtere, Villere took place in Bergen 12-15. March 2024. Member of the research group LINGCLIM, professor emerita Kjersti Fløttum participated in a panel discussion about the language we use when we talk about climate and climate change. Thor Haakon Bakke, leader of the Green Party in Bergen, and Åse Wetås, director of the Language Council (Språkrådet), also participated in the panel. The conversation was mediated by journalist, presenter and entertainer, Linda Eide. It was both an informative and at times humourous conversation in front of a large audience at Kulturhuset in the city centre of Bergen. 

Official presentation of the event:

"We talk about it all the time - but what are we really saying? From research reports full of imported technical terms, to trolling in comment sections, climate jargon is expressed in all its linguistic splendor. Something can be both "climate positive" and "carbon negative", we can feel both "meat shame" and "climate anxiety", and in 2019 "climate roar" was named word of the year by the Language Council [Språkrådet]. Tribal language that goes far over most people's heads, and abbreviations such as COP, CCS and IPCC do not perhaps make us less confused? In addition, phrases such as "the new oil", "net zero", "develop, not dismantle" and "the green shift" keep popping up in statements from politicians. Do we really know what we are saying?

Language lays the foundation for all common understanding. Is the new "climate language" helping to polarize us, or is it unifying? How are words and expressions used to scare, and to create optimism in the face of climate change? And what are we really talking about when we talk about the environment, sustainability and climate? Welcome to a conversation about how we make ourselves both understood and misunderstood when we talk about climate!

Kjersti Fløttum is professor emerita at the University of Bergen and has researched the use of climate language as leader of the project LINGCLIM. Åse Wetås is a linguist and director of the Language Council [Språkrådet], and thus has a good knowledge of the origins of both new and old words. As head of the Green party in Bergen, Thor Haakon Bakke has heard most of what there is to hear about climate - whether it's arguments from political opponents, claims in heated comment sections or things he says himself. The conversation will be mediated by Linda Eide, who is a journalist, presenter and entertainer. She also knows a thing or two about languages." 

Participants in the panel discussion:

Kjersti Fløttum, professor emerita at the University of Bergen 

Thor Haakon Bakke, leader of the Green Party in Bergen

Åse Wetås, director of the Language Council (Språkrådet) 

Mediator: Linda Eide, journalist, presenter and entertainer. 

https://www.varmerevaterevillere.no/programoversikt-2024/stammesprak-og-...