Resource Type: Evaluation & Measuring Progress

Clean Creatives has decoded the narrative shifts in fossil fuel campaigns between 2020 and 2024, detailing how narrative strategy in oil and gas companies’ advertising and PR campaigns has shifted. Their evidence documents how, between 2020 and 2024, oil and gas campaigns shifted from setting climate targets and saying “we’re part of the solution” to emphasizing fossil fuel dependence and convincing people “you can’t live without us.” In parallel, we saw shareholders follow suit and move from supporting climate action to prioritizing fossil fuel profitability. Oil majors have always been preoccupied with social license, but now, the fossil fuel industry is radicalizing. Companies like BP and Shell, which have a history of greenwashing and made net zero pledges in 2020. Now they are going all in on fossil fuels. They’re advertising false solutions like CCS, natural gas and biofuels, which increase fossil fuel dependence. Greenwashing is no longer the core strategy of the fossil fuel industry — it’s about power and political influence.

Join us for the second installment of our AI Training Series, which will focus on building a foundational understanding of AI (what generative AI is, how it works, key terms/concepts), different types of AI tools and their use cases, and using your organization’s mission to guide AI adoption.

To support grid reliability and affordability communications in the Iran war or broader
geopolitical context, the Reliable Grid Project (RGP) offers messaging research,
resources, and guidance.

This has been a challenging weekend (and month) for communities around the country for a whole host of reasons. As you read this week’s feature, written by Maliyah, I ask you to reflect on the strength our communities already hold, especially through the data, stories, and lived experience that too often get talked about but not truly listened to.

Recent acts of violence and injustice—here in Minneapolis–St. Paul and in communities across the country—are not only social and political crises; they are health crises. As we navigate ongoing harm and uncertainty, it is essential that we care for ourselves and one another.

First, I’d like to say that I hope you and yours had a restful and rejuvenating holiday break. The Lab team took some extended time off, and we’re all making our way back to our desks this week, preparing for what is already shaping up to be a busy 2026. We’ve all got a lot of work ahead of us, and we’re excited to provide the resources and support you need to kick some ass this year.

Despite the challenge, the Lab community has shown up over and over again to collaborate, share insights, learn together in trainings and cohorts, and create spaces to nurture ourselves and build our resilience. As we close out 2025, here is a rundown of what we’ve accomplished together.

I think it’s clear our democracy is not in a good place. While it has never been perfect (to say the least), I know many of us are increasingly worried about its fate. Based on key indicators of authoritarian behavior, like selective prosecution of opponents, the Trump administration has become increasingly autocratic.

Role model narratives—stories about specific people taking recommended actions—are a proven communication strategy for encouraging socially beneficial behaviors such as climate action. However, the extent to which climate activists share role model narratives on social media has yet to be investigated. To measure the prevalence of climate action role model narratives on social media, Instagram and TikTok posts tagged with the hashtags #climateaction and #climateactivist (dated between August 2021 and October 2024) were collected and a content analysis of the over 600 posts was conducted.

May marked the ten year anniversary of the Climate Advocacy Lab. True to form of our nerdiness, today we’re releasing one of the most substantive pieces of work to date, our Ten-Year Impact Report, written by my former Co-Director Carina Barnett-Loro.