The best climate stories motivate and move people

I recently returned from Climate Week in New York, a whirlwind of meetings, roundtables, and drinks receptions that is, of course, a world away from the daily lives of most people. One of my first meetings back home was with the sustainability lead of a large housing association in Newcastle. “It’s hard some days,” he said in a broad Geordie accent. “How do I get people to care about the planet when they have so many worries about how they will get through the week?”

We talked about what works best. “It’s when people see the potential for something in their lives or their neighbourhood to be better,” the sustainability lead said to me. “Even if making that change is hard, it’s finding a way to see that it will be worth it — for them, for their neighbours, for their kids.”

I have been thinking about that conversation a lot and reflecting on the mood in New York. At Climate Week, climate storytelling was a popular theme, and climate communicators were out in full force. One wise reflection on the week that got tongues wagging on social media referred to a culture of toxic positivity amongst climate communicators.

The organisation I lead, Climate Outreach, is obsessed with how we help tell the best climate stories to motivate and move people, all based on a deep and rigorous social science evidence base. The first thing our evidence tells us is that a narrative of devastation, of a future that is already doomed, is the worst way to motivate people to think, feel, or act differently in response to climate change. But if we flip that into a focus that is just about ‘being positive,’ we miss the mark – and the truth. We can’t sugarcoat reality. We have to balance urgency with agency.

All of our evidence tells us that the best climate communication must offer connection, agency, and hope. We have to deeply connect with our audience. We have to make this a story about real people.

We do not need communication with the passivity of the positive. Instead, it’s about giving agency – or, more simply put, it’s about getting sh*t done, often in the face of a challenging context and odds. It’s about possibility, not positivity.

And we have to offer hope. Not because we think everything is normal and fine, but for the very reason that it is not. For many people around the world, the situation is disastrous, and hope is the thing that will spur action.

To move away from passive positivity, there are three things we urgently need to do.

First, we must stop talking about the climate story we should be telling and start actually telling it. Despite numerous storytelling events at CWNY, almost nowhere did I hear stories of real people and the work they are doing on the green transition. The voices of entrepreneurs, tradespeople, and communities on the frontline of climate adaptation must be at the centre of these events.

Second, we need to do deep, long-term community outreach with people affected by the climate transition. That means partnerships with people already in those communities — like local authorities and housing associations, universities, charities, and faith groups. We need to equip them with the insights and confidence to be brilliant climate communicators.

Third, we need a new narrative for us Climate Week types. We all watched in horror as devastating floods destroyed neighbourhoods from Kathmandu to North Carolina while we attended panel discussions under the slogan: ‘It’s time.’ How do we better tell the story of the progress that’s been made – a story that is often inspiring – even as we acknowledge how much further we have to go?

The best banner I saw at Climate Week featured a quote from Dr Martin Luther King Jr: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” Dr King’s words are the north star we need for our climate stories.

This piece was originally published in BusinessGreen on 8 October, 2024.