Climate Communications Research: New Narratives for Broader Impact.
The conceptual climate messages we’ve relied on in recent years only appeal to a narrow audience.
What Climate Change Messages Are Most Effective?
Data shows that messages about the direct impact of climate change beat side-door messages 2:1. Telling simple, human stories about the impact of an overheating planet on people’s everyday lives is the single best way to power new progress.
Today’s messages aren’t resonating because they’re…
Too complex, inventing empty terms like “net zero” and “scope 3”
Too conceptual, promising abstract benefits like jobs, growth, or innovation
Too disruptive, demanding phaseouts and massive transitions
Too global, reaching far beyond the scope of people’s everyday concerns
Too ideological, using coded words like “crisis” or “green” that shrinks the audience
It’s not if we should talk about climate change, but how.
With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, we collected 83,000 survey responses across the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France and Italy to find talk about climate change that work. The answer was clear.
Make the consequences human: my health, my finances, and the people I love.
Across all six countries, three messages about the everyday impacts of pollution and an overheating planet are consistently the most effective at driving support.
Make the cause concrete: focus on pollution we can reduce.
Returning to the root cause of climate change–pollution that’s overheating the planet–makes the problem feel significantly more solvable.
Make the cure exciting: unlimited, local sources of reliable energy.
Instead of focusing solely on the things we’re banning, blocking, and taking away, spend time on what we’re working toward: unlimited clean energy.
Which Climate Stories Engage the Widest Audience?
To succeed, we will have to reach beyond the climate bubble. Our work identified four climate stories that can engage new messengers, show up in new moments, and reach people where they are across media channels.
Click the links below to explore the research and get insights on bringing these stories to life.
Love
Health
Money
Power
Unlimited energy sets you free from limited choice, limited supply, and high prices.
How Can Better Climate Communication Drive Real Progress?
Ultimately, the path forward requires a fundamental shift from the jargon and limiting language of the past toward narratives that prioritize human values and real-world relevance. By grounding our message in people’s everyday material concerns and costs, we can turn climate change into a top citizen priority and motivate leaders toward the bold actions we so urgently need.