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“The world is in trouble. Continents are on fire. Glaciers are melting. Coral reefs are dying, the list goes on and on. Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what to do, we just need the will.”
These were the words of renowned broadcaster Sir David Attenborough in 2020, yet politicians continue to roll back on their climate commitments while a loud minority still describe the crisis as a hoax.
The situation is, on the face of it, particularly concerning in the US, where a ‘greenlash’ has seen state laws restrict the use of ESG factors for investments and the election of Donald Trump, while resistance to green policies has also broken out across Europe.
This is probably a symptom of the rising cost of living in recent years, although a slowdown of the climate and environmental agenda is not inevitable, if we can get our language right.
Public perception
The outlook is more positive in the UK, where this year’s general election delivered an unprecedented four seats for the Greens and a new government that has promised to make the country a “clean energy superpower” by 2030.
“We now have the greenest parliament ever, and an awful lot of Labour MPs won seats where climate was a big issue,” explains Rachael Orr, CEO at Climate Outreach, which specialises in climate change communication.
“When the Conservatives sought to make climate a wedge issue, Labour stood firm on its environmental commitments and said, ‘It’s not that these pledges are too expensive; it’s too expensive not to make these commitments’, and they were rewarded with a huge majority.”
Orr’s organisation carried out research earlier this year involving over 5,000 adults, finding that only 15% would vote for a party pledging to slow down the net-zero transition. However, 51% said that expecting everyone to pay for it themselves is “going too far”.
“We definitely heard that people are concerned that the transition will cost them, and we shouldn’t be asking everybody to pay for low-carbon technologies,” Orr continues. “A real acknowledgement that there has to be support from government.”
If opinion polls are to be believed, public sentiment towards net zero is similar in much of the rest of Europe and in the US, so what is responsible for the apparent greenlash?
“Politicians can still be quite nervous or sceptical that climate has such broad support, and we need to keep reinforcing that to them,” Orr says. “There will be some loud voices who are climate sceptics, but they are very small in number, and we need to drown out those voices and remind politicians that their voters want ambition and clarity, and that this is a collective endeavour.
“I don’t actually think that climate advocates and campaigners have been very good at telling that story.”
Telling the climate story
It’s hard to be certain how widespread resentment towards green policies is. Even if climate sceptics are few, it’s important to include them in the discussion.
Matt Winning is a climate comedian and lecturer in the economics of sustainability at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, and authored a handbook on communicating climate change. He says: “As an academic in climate science, I was never taught how to communicate it, so I wanted to try to put something together that would help younger, early-career researchers.”
A recent study by Oxford Brookes Business School found that 60% of sustainability professionals believe that a low priority is given to soft skills training such as communication, despite it being such a key part of their roles.
“The best advice is to be yourself if you want to get the message across in a way that’s clear and makes you feel comfortable,” Winning says. “That’s why we need so many different voices in this space because we need audiences to see themselves, and for the story to be people-centric.
“People hold a range of pre-existing values and world views and often just want to hear their own world views mirrored back to them, so don’t underestimate the role of listening, don’t talk down to people, and cut the jargon.”
As a comedian, he says humour can be an effective way to initiative discussions on climate change and nature loss. “Being self-deprecating can bring people to your level, and I feel people find me a lot more approachable as a comedian talking about climate change than they do when I talk as an academic,” he continues.
“I might also make jokes about Just Stop Oil protests, for example, which disarms some of the stuff around it, but then I tend to say they are broadly right, which I’ve found is quite a good way of doing it.
“You want people to take away a balance of negative and positive messages, but I do think you need some doom from a storytelling perspective for people to rail against.”
Business transformation
Some of the most vocal and social-media-savvy opponents of green policies are based in the US, where climate action is a clear dividing line between the two main political parties and a key component of the culture wars.
Andrea Belk Olson, behavioural scientist and founder of the change agency Pragmadik in Iowa, says: “Parties will change their position on climate change if it is useful for them, and so it’s seen as political fodder.”
With the US having experienced several climate crises recently, she says organisations that have felt the impacts of extreme weather directly are much more likely to implement green initiatives and get employee buy-in for those changes. “The most successful organisations have created a culture of change acceptance by addressing six components: legitimacy, ownership, relevance, attainability, authenticity, and impartiality,” she says. “It’s essential to connect with individuals in a way that is relevant.”
Rather than just rely on leadership teams, Olson says that it’s important not to overlook staff who might be key influencers within a company’s culture.
“Whether they’re middle managers, sales personnel or the office receptionist, these people can really make or break your plan, because unlike traditional roles in leadership, these informal influencers wield a lot more power in shaping organisational change, so folding those influencers in early into the change process will build confidence across the organisation.”
She also suggests businesses bring in a third-party moderator to help neutralise any internal politics or infighting that might present obstacles to change. With many people resistant to change, she says that breaking down grand sustainability projects into a series of “micro changes” can make them seem more attainable and establish a sense of accomplishment.
She adds: “It’s really important to be honest and direct with people, because trust takes months to build, and only seconds to break.”
Catch up online. This article is based on a session from IEMA Connect 24: When pessimism meets optimism, available on demand: www.bit.ly/Connect24ondemand
Chris Seekings is the Deputy Editor of IEMA’s Transform magazine, which is published biomonthly for IEMA members. Chris’s role involves writing sustainability-related news, features and interviews, as well as helping to plan and manage the magazine’s other day-to-day activities.
