Risk Analysis · 1997 · 149 citations · 7 references
Social SciencesCommunicationPolitical CommunicationRisk AssessmentRisk CommunicationStrategic CommunicationCrisis CommunicationEnvironmental CommunicationRisk AmplificationRisk GovernanceRisk ReportingEnvironmental Crisis CommunicationInternational Risk CommunicationRisk Amplification ProcessesRisk Communication Effects
The proposed dumping of Brent Spar in UK offshore waters sparked international uproar because media amplification and distrustful stances by the UK government and Shell made the event highly visible. The authors argue that the Brent Spar crisis exemplifies failed risk communication, analyzing why Greenpeace succeeded while Shell and the UK government failed, and drawing lessons for future practice. The authors analyze the crisis by identifying key factors that enabled Greenpeace’s effective risk communication and hindered Shell and the UK government’s efforts.
This perspective piece uses the theories and ideas of risk communication to shed light on the reasons why the proposed dumping of Brent Spar in the U.K. offshore waters caused such an international uproar. We postulate that the Brent Spar crisis is a classic example of risk communication gone wrong. Had the sinking of the storage buoy not been amplified by the media and the environmental group Greenpeace, and had not the U.K. Government nor Shell come across as distrustful it would probably have taken place without any public notice. We examine some of the main reasons why Greenpeace succeeded in its risk communication and Shell/the U.K. Government failed. We conclude with a discussion concerning some of the risk communication lessons learned from this crisis.
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