The Absolute Trickiest Part About our Climate Messaging
Imagine standing on the edge of a cliff and witnessing how a big storm is building on the horizon. You live here on Earth but eons ago, long before human civilization took root. Your home is simply a cave in the wall and your life is simple, guided by equal measures of gratitude and respect for nature’s wonders.
What do you do?
If you previously had any plans of venturing out and exploring neighboring lands, those plans will have to wait. In the face of a storm, bringing promises of uncertainty (when will it hit, how bad will it be, how long will it last?), you do what the reasonable, smart version of yourself would do. You retreat, gather some food and firewood to hold you over, and then crawl into the safety of your cave until the storm has passed.
Photo by Michael & Diane Weidner on Unsplash
If climate change is a metaphorical storm that we can see building on the horizon but we’re yet to know exactly how bad it’s going to be - and if or when it will hit us personally - we must understand that the primal parts of our brain act in a very similar way. In the face of danger and uncertainty, we don’t choose change - we stay put and hold on tight to what we know to be safe.
In a time when what we need most is for people to rise and activate radical change, this is a problem.
The messages of the climate crisis (however well-intended) rarely spark the action we so desperately need. Instead, it puts us in a place of paralysis, overwhelm, and a longing to hold on to what we already hold dear.
For a long time, we’ve believed that if we only raise awareness around climate change and make people scared enough, action would follow. Now studies are showing that isn’t the case. In fact, the more people are introduced to the severities of the crisis, the less they tend to do.
Much to the point I’ve just made.
That is why we must shift the narrative. We must recognize that what we need more than anything is change and that we must learn not just to accept change but to find ways to embrace it.
We have to start choosing change before change chooses us.
We have to muster the curiosity and courage to venture out and explore - even with an approaching storm - and trust that if we do, we will discover a world that is even better than the false idea of safety we know (and trust) today.
We must act on climate change, not just because we’re worried about what will happen if we don’t, but because we’re eager to explore what will happen if we do!
What activated you?
If you’re someone who has dedicated parts or your entire life to figuring out the climate crisis, you have moved above most of us. You left the cave and ventured out — you’re an innovator, an activator, a leader!
(This applies if you’re a teacher, entrepreneur, CEO, parent, or committed teenager — we all have a part to play!)
And IF you have, there must’ve been another motivator. Something more than just “Shit, this is scary!” that enables you to keep going. May it be the curiosity to develop new technology, the drive to implement positive change, or the agency that comes with activating that inner leadership, something more is fueling you than the pure fright of a dying planet.
What is it? Can you pinpoint the foundation of your secret sauce? What is the fuel to your engine?
By identifying what motivates you to show up for climate action (in whatever way you do) you are one step closer to understanding the messaging that will help other people activate the same journey. How can we help people look beyond the storm and into a territory that isn’t just safe, but better? How do we bring the notion of positive change into a world that is currently hooked on holding on to the old with dear life?
That is the challenge we’re facing in climate communication and one we should take on with excitement and pride. One more ally means one more leader born, and a ripple effect of change to follow!
