Or when someone asks “Do you believe in climate change?” is it saying do you believe climate change is something we should fear?
When the science says the icebergs are going to; melt, there will be more hurricanes, coastal and island towns will be flooded and the areas become uninhabitable at least if not underwater entirely, I, not being a climate scientist, will gladly assent that it is possible and I would submit on the appeal to authority that it is true.
However, does assenting to that being true, mean I “believe in climate change” if I completely disagree with the popular, political, and corporate ideas of what to do about it?
This is not the first climate change our species had to face and it probably won't be the last. If we don't fight it and the projections are to be believed, our environment is going to change in very tangible ways and this is sure to have an impact on our species' way of life. But it will adapt, just like it did in the past.
The current fight against climate change is not so much about long term survival or preserving the planet as it is about maintaining the current power balance. As projected, climate change will necessarily induce a lot of drama: droughts, famines, large scale migrations, wars, unrest… and with that will come redistribution of economic/political power. _That_ is what those in power fear and why so much effort is put into maintaining our current way of life, and thus the distribution of power that comes with it, "but with less impact".