It’s Important to Talk About Climate Change

5 tips for effective communication

What would you think if I told you that one of the most important things you can do to address the current climate crisis is also one of the simplest things to do? The title of this article may have given it away prematurely, but you’ve got it — the answer is to talk about it. There we go, its important and its easy at the same time, and the impact can be huge.

Ok, I know that it isn’t ‘cool’ to talk about climate change. At a dinner party, at the pub, at any social event, you don’t want to be that person who changes the conversation from the latest movie, premier league winners, celebrity scandal, to arguably the greatest threat the planet is currently facing. But not talking about it, that has got to be worse!

It’s transforming our planet, so why shouldn’t we be talking about it? Big change comes from small talk. The question is, how do we talk about it? Communicating climate change is tough. Its complex, there is uncertainty, and people have strong beliefs. To help, here are my 5 tips for communicating climate change in, what I think, is an effective way.

1. Be clear about scientific consensus

When communicating climate change, it is important to talk about the scientific consensus, as opposed to the uncertainties. What do we definitely know? Those who are are less knowledgable about climate change, or indeed those who are less inclined to believe the extent of the problem, will want to know the facts and not just opinions. When I speak about climate change, I always start by explaining the scientific consensus surrounding anthropogenic climate change. The statement ‘climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities’, has agreement from 97% or more of actively publishing climate scientists, and this can be a great way to start conversations.

Climate change communication has too heavily taken an uncertain stance. But can we be more certain? The answer is of course yes. The most recent IPCC assessment report opens with a clear message: “It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land.” As the body of scientific research grows, we are becoming more certain about the impacts of the crisis, and replacing “when” with “if” in our communications can be both powerful and effective.

2. Talk about risk, not uncertainty

The risk posed by climate change is an interesting topic, and is actually the area I researched for my Master’s dissertation. It is shown that those perceiving a higher level of risk from climate change are more likely to support mitigation measures and change their behaviour, which makes sense right? So rather than talking about uncertainties and what ‘might’ happen, talk about the real, evaluated risks that climate change poses, and bring about local examples. Talking about the impact of rising temperature on polar bears who may be geographically far away, may not always be the most effective.

Both the magnitude and the complexity of the climate change problem means that it is difficult for people to quantify the risk it poses, therefore our communication of the risks needs to be in a way that is relatable and meaningful to our audience. What is likely to have a tangible impact on that specific individual or group? Aiding someone to really feel the risk is key to creating change.

3. Understand what drives the other persons views

We are all different, we all understand that. Whether we differ in our political beliefs, our age, where we live, our nationality, our religion, or even down to our cultural worldviews, we all have different factors impacting our core beliefs, and its the core beliefs of our audience that we need to be aware of when communicating climate change. We are going to have a hard time changing these core beliefs, and threatening these is going to be unproductive and not result in the outcome we want. Instead of threatening these beliefs we should be tailoring our communication in a way that complements the beliefs and better resonates with the values of our audience.

4. Engage your audience

Most people understand the world through stories and images, not lists of numbers, probability statements, scientific language or technical graphs, and so it is crucial to find ways of translating and interpreting the technical language into something understandable, relatable, and more engaging. Finding artistic ways of communicating climate change doesn’t take away from the facts, so long as scientific research forms its basis. The use of imagery, poetry, comedy, film, and other means of expression are all important in engaging audiences and educating about climate change.

Use of personal stories can also be incredibly powerful. They can be far more relatable, and, at the end of the day, relating to a situation can be incredibly powerful and moving and, inspire change in a way that is different to simply being presented with statistics.

5. Have a conversation, not an argument!

This is something I cannot stress enough. The most valuable conversations to be had about climate change, are conversions, not arguments! Arguing with someone because their views are wildly different is unproductive and, if anything, will only cause them to strength their views. Taking the approach of discussing and understanding their viewpoints through conversation, will allow you to talk through different ideas in a productive manner, without repeating the same single-line arguments over and over again. Even just discussing different ideas, without the view to change someones mind, can be incredibly valuable in spreading awareness of different scientific developments and ideas.

So there you have it, my climate conversation advice. Next time you find yourself in the beer garden or at a BBQ, strike up a conversation and put these tips into practice.

Beth