Audience: Policymakers

Sending personal emails to elected officials seems more effective than sending bulk form emails. Further, given the low level of constituent messaging to politicians (at least in Canada) on climate change, there may be an opportunity to increase the volume of personal messages to increase the attention paid by politicians to the issue. This field experiment found that sending campaign emails to the Members of the Canadian Parliament asking them to make their own Twitter posts about climate change didn’t have much of an effect (neither when employing different issue frames such as public health nor standard environmental). However, follow-up interviews with parliament office staffers revealed that they’re more likely to pass along information to the politician they work for if there are enough (more than a couple) messages that are personalized by the sender—not bulk emails sent in the same way. Staffers also revealed that they generally don’t receive communication very often about climate change.

The concept of a “just transition” has permeated mainstream discourse, yet those who will likely be most impacted by the energy transition – frontline workers and their communities – have mostly been excluded from the conversation. This report, derived from over 100 listening sessions and interviews with workers and frontline community members, encourages policymakers to:

Go Big: Be guided by a just transition vision that is ambitious and comprehensive in order to address the scope of impacts for affected communities and industries. Job creation, labor standards, and workers’ rights must be included.
Go Wide: Impacts from economic transitions can be felt in a number of ways, from financial to social to psychological. Policymakers should engage with existing social infrastructure such as labor unions, frontline community groups, and Indigenous nations to make sure support is readily available.
Go Far: While the climate crisis is urgent, just transition plans must not be fixated on the short-term. Instead, policymakers should include long-term commitments to workers and their communities as part of their vision and take into account differences in generational needs between older, established workers and those just entering the workforce.

In addition, the report addresses how labor and advocacy organizations need to develop authentic, trusting relationships with each other to build political and policy alignment around just transition goals. One way to start is to establish and expand internal committees and capacities to understand each other’s issues and perspectives.

We try hard to influence policymakers like elected leaders and other government decision-makers. But do our tactics work? Turns out, our assumptions (such as more = better) can be wrong. Here are evidence-based tips for getting through to policymakers, through your supporters and via direct contact.