Issue: Principles & Processes

Establishing shared values between communicator and audience is essential for persuasive climate communication. When communicating about climate change, for any communicator, it’s essential to communicate that you have a shared goal as the audience—and to communicate that we (humans) still have agency in mitigating the problem. In addition, ideally describe some concrete actions that people can take. Too much past climate science communication has been purely dire and makes people feel hopeless and not efficacious to act. For businesses, proclaiming commitment to sustainability can be key for being more competitive—although greenwashing is always a concern when evaluating the intentions of corporations. This resource describes some competing climate communication frames, and the benefits and costs to each: “information deficit approach,” “motivation by fear approach,” “scientific framing approach,” and “media-based mobilization.”

As 2021 came to an end, I took some time to reflect on the year. I had many experiences from starting my new job as Training Manager to celebrating my best friend’s wedding. I would say one thing I have brought to this position is a lot of curiosity about what more is possible.
Prior to the Lab, I worked as an organizer at 350.org where I ran a number of trainings. One of these training programs focused on BIPOC climate organizers at the intersection of racial justice, affectionately known as The Climate League. My co-facilitator and I wanted to dig deeper with a small group of people over an extended period of time to evaluate what would be different about their organizing. Why is this important? That experience made me think deeper about what skills and capacities I believe are necessary to win. So in my new role at the Lab, I said to myself “Can this be done here at the Lab according to the specific time and conditions we are in?” to which my Capricorn brain said, “Absolutely! Anything is possible.” That seed of curiosity transformed into the Training for Impact 2021 Cohort.

A focus on individual actions can distract from the larger climate movement goal of system change. While many activists in the UK-based group Extinction Rebellion (XR) call for “system change,” what is missing is an understanding of what kind of system change is necessary—and how it might be achieved. XR activists still engage in personal pro-environmental behaviors, even though their political goals are aimed at systemic change, and the group continues to argue that blaming and shaming individuals is counterproductive. This article argues that accusations of hypocrisy (based on their personal choices of climate movement activists) are used to discredit, divide, and undermine the climate movement—and those accusations by opponents work, to some degree.