The climate community doesn't know anything about communications.

Not quite, but it needs to get much more serious about branding and storytelling

The climate movement is on the back foot. The Trump administration has set climate action in its sights, and the previous administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, hailed as the most far-reaching set of climate subsidies in US history, is being fed into the Republican Congressional woodchipper. Moreover, swathes of corporate America, not to mention the renewable and clean energy industries are actively self-censoring to avoid mentioning climate or decarbonization at all.

Legendary Hollywood screenwriter William Goldman, responsible for the classic western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid famously declared that, in Hollywood, “nobody knows anything”. Despite the immense concentration of experience and wealth of talent in the world’s undisputed capital of the entertainment business, nobody has been able to reliably predict which movies will be hits, and which will be flops.

The world’s climate community comprises a collection of similarly smart, talented and inspiring people comprising experts in science, economics, protest and activism, politics and other disciplines. Yet, in the face of the current populist onslaught of climate scepticism and revisionism, it has become clear that it similarly knows next-to-nothing about how to communicate constructive climate policies in a way that strikes a chord with the general public. 

So far, much of the climate movement’s answer to the current backlash, particularly those voices in the private sector, seems to be “let’s keep doing what we’re doing, but a bit more quietly, with a bit more focus on growth and livelihood issues.” That approach is understandable, but it masks the deeper problem: very few advocating accelerated action and investment in climate solutions have so far been able change people’s hearts, minds or behavior on the scale needed to make climate policies popular.

In the Goldman sense, nobody in the climate community seems to know anything  about mass communications. Awareness there’s a problem? Yes. But has anyone managed to galvanise popular support for practical, solution-oriented policies? Sadly, no.

Nine out of 10 people globally recognise climate change as an immediate threat, and 89% favour more action from governments to address it. Yet many climate activists remain committed to boycotts and outraged protests that preach to the converted but come across as shrill, alienating many more people completely. Meanwhile, potentially powerful solution-oriented policies are relentlessly criticised from absolutist voices within the climate community.

One diagnosis of the problem is that the language and tone of most climate action communications has been too complicated, technical, and abstract, and thus misses the real concerns of the public. Former BBC reporter David Shukman puts it well: “My pet hate is words ending in the syllable 'shun' as in mitigation, adaptation, ambition, action, emission. You can see eyes glazing over,” he says.

John Marshall of Potential Energy Coalition (a marketing agency dedicated to communicating climate issues more effectively based on data – so therefore it could be conceded to know something) agrees:

“Regular people think Scope Three is a mouthwash,” he said at a recent climate conference in Washington DC. “They don’t wake up thinking ‘What a great day for decarbonisation.’ They have a modest to high degree of concern about climate change. They notice the weather is changing, getting a lot worse, and they care about that.”

On the other side of the debate, the populist voices seeking to stymie the energy transition and prolong the profitable reign of fossil fuels have proven themselves to be far better at appealing to people’s emotions. Once again, the devil has the best tunes.

As I’ve written about elsewhere, one of the world's most progressive and potentially effective climate policies – Canada’s consumer carbon tax – failed politically because of ineffective communications. How many more creative, progressive policies will be strangled at birth or never see the light of day because the climate movement doesn’t understand or isn’t prepared to invest in compelling storytelling, branding and mass communications?

I’m a communications guy, and when you’re a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. That doesn’t mean, however, that a hammer might not sometimes be exactly what is needed. The world’s advertising, marketing and public relations firms are staffed with talented researchers, strategists, planners, copywriters, art directors and producers who care deeply about addressing climate change and, what’s more, have the skills to do something about it. So, what’s holding them back?

A blueprint for action

One essential requirement is the existence of first movers to show the way. Marshall’s Potential Energy Coalition is one. A possible blueprint for leadership is the work done by the UN Development Programme and International Communications Consultants Organisation (ICCO) on a global climate crisis awareness campaign "Weather Kids” in 2024. Putting emotional messaging at its heart, the campaign achieved global visibility and reach on a shoestring budget, thanks to the efforts of ICCO’s member agencies. For sustained campaigns at scale, however, more funding is needed. Perhaps not on the scale of most global brand marketing campaigns, but enough to provide an initial push.

The world’s clean energy sector received an estimated $2 trillion in investment in 2024. Global carbon markets, meanwhile, reached more than $100 billion in market capitalisation. Yet only a fraction of a percent of those amounts is being spent on communications promoting practical climate solutions to the man and woman on the street. A relatively tiny increase in communications budgets could yield a massive return in terms of combating climate scepticism and winning mainstream support for more progressive policymaking.

Making this happen will also take leadership from the climate and advertising and PR communities. But judging by the conference programmes of two upcoming industry shindigs, it’s far from being high on the agenda. In June, the advertising and marketing world will converge on Cannes for its annual, week-long “festival of creativity.” While global mad men and women preen on the Croisette, sessions addressing climate and sustainability are few and far between, on either the official programme or among the host of sideline events. The following week is Climate Action Week in London. There, amid the righteous handwringing, the number of events and sessions that will cover climate communications is depressingly small.  (I’ll be proudly preening and handwringing at both events and will report back here.)

Lastly, unlocking the power of the world’s creative industries to accelerate climate solutions needs a single, meaty cause to focus on. Not boycotts, nor ringing of alarm bells. And way beyond technocratic setting of emissions targets. We need a practical solution. Aligning campaigns behind the universally popular idea of making polluters pay would be an incredible start.

Whatever the cause, meaningful progress on climate needs a change in the political weather. It’s time for enterprise-grade communications from the world’s branding and storytelling experts. I’ll ask them in France: if you’re planning to be there, or in London for Climate Action Week, let me know.

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End note: I thoroughly recommend Goldman’s memoir Adventures in the Screen Trade to anyone interested in the movies or storytelling. Get the edition that includes the full screenplay of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, if you can find it. It’s amazing.