Introduction

The increasing urgency of the global climate crisis has placed international climate communication at the forefront of scholarly research and practical application. As the issues have risen on the political agenda, it has become of increasing interest to practitioners, non-governmental organizations, governments, and policymakers at national and international levels. Over the last 25 years, there has been a proliferation of scholarly activity and studies that examine the deep-seated challenges of communicating the climate crisis, spanning a range of disciplines. Such challenges include the complexity of climate science itself and the difficulties of communicating this across different cultures and international contexts. This chapter begins by explaining the need for a research handbook specifically on climate “crisis” communication. It provides an overview of the field and a chapter-by-chapter summary of the contents of the Handbook. Finally, it concludes by highlighting important emerging research areas identified throughout the book.