How do we get from climate awareness… to climate action?
If we are all reaching out on climate issues, we need some bold and practical ways forward, because a lot of people are not happy that “Keir Starmer’s climate advisers say we will need to change diets and fly less – especially after the PM insisted climate goals wouldn’t hit Britons“.
Perhaps, then, we need a bit of Climate Outreach:
We want everyone to be involved in shaping a more sustainable, fairer world. We want to ensure people trust, support and have a say in the changes we must make to tackle climate change.
Our innovative work has helped change communication about climate change: from a story about science to a story about people. We have 20 years of research and insight into how to make these stories as powerful as possible.
It’s very much about what stories are told – and Climate Outreach have plenty to tell:
Firstly, we need to tell a more ordinary climate story:
[Redcar Sands and the Teesside Wind Farm. Credit: Mat Fascione.]
Stand on the seafront at Clacton-on-Sea and you can’t miss the great big Gunfleet Sands offshore wind farm. It’s been out there for a decade, merrily spinning round on the horizon. Plenty of time to make enemies. But here’s the thing. Pretty much everyone we spoke to thought Gunfleet is fab. “They look amazing,” said one of our participants, we will call him Adam, “and I think they’re a good thing.” Another participant, Katy, agreed. “I love them. I think they’re a good idea. I mean we should have a lot more out there.” It was the same right across our seaside towns. People really like renewables: they are seen as good news, bringing jobs and secure energy to the country, and often something to be actively proud of locally. Does that feel like a surprise? It surprised some of the politicians I talk to about it. MPs (and many of the rest of us) have long thought there’s more opposition to things like wind power than there is.
Because, the best climate stories motivate and move people:
[The Green Estate Community Interest Company in Sheffield maintains some of the planting in the Grey to Green development in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK. Credit: Alastair Johnstone / Climate Visuals]
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.”
For example, investment in active travel is popular: most people want more options for walking, wheeling and cycling:
[Walking to school through busy traffic in Didsbury, Manchester. Credit: Mary Turner / Climate Visuals.]
A new report by Sport England has found that being active is good for us and good for society – and unequal access to physical activity harms our nation’s health and wellbeing. Addressing this isn’t just about organised sport. It’s about more opportunities to be active day-to-day. It’s about how we get around: walking, wheeling and cycling to get to school, to work and to socialise.
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