ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses the lack of linguistic and discursive studies and shows how climate change text and talk work. Language not only reflects and expresses facts and observations; it also influences attitudes and behavior. Language thus constitutes a vital component of the cultural prerequisites underlying societal development, and it is indispensable for interaction and participation—also in the climate change issue. The importance of language is further emphasized through two factors: the complexity of the phenomenon of climate change itself, developed from being understood mainly as physical to becoming political, social, cultural, ethical, and communicational, and the particularly multivoiced and multifaceted nature of the climate change debate, with a wide range of actors and voices, which causes multiple communication challenges due to the high number of stakeholders, interests, opinions, and attitudes represented.
