climate-speak

noun

The jargon used by climatologists and people talking about climate change.

Meanings

nounclimate-speak (uncountable)

alternative climatespeak

  1. uncountableThe jargon used by climatologists and people talking about climate change.

    This is another example where climate-speak removes itself from common parlance and common sense.

    2017, Paul Hawkin, Drawdown: The most comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warming, page vii
    1 more example

    In global climate-speak, terms like 'scenario', 'impact', 'vulnerability', 'irreversible', 'mitigation', 'adaptation' and 'adaptive capacity' have become common currency, verbal coins sometimes so worn that they almost lose meaning, even though they carry sinister messages about the future of humanity.

    2011, V. Berridge, M. Gorsky, Environment, Health and History, page 264

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

climate-speak. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/climate-speak

MLA

“climate-speak.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/climate-speak. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “climate-speak,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/climate-speak.

Source: climate-speak on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.