Resource Type: Field Research

Opinion data reveals signs of increased climate concern across the U.S. We may very well be nearing the tipping point in public opinion so essential for action. So what type of climate messages do we need now? We at Potential Energy have been rigorously testing different message frames and have learned a lot about what to say (and what not to say) at this critical juncture in the climate change movement. So we share with you clear, concise, actionable takeaways about what words to use (and what words to definitely avoid) so that we can drive up support during this once-in-a-lifetime moment for action.            

Certain organizing strategies can allow activists to develop leadership skills in different ways. In Australia, the organization School Strike for Climate (SS4C) has generated more involvement among high school students in the climate movement. SS4C has particularly employed some tactics such as “peer learning, mentoring, learning by doing, confrontation, reflective spaces and training” to allow new high school activists to develop leadership skills. SS4C used movement tactics such as mobilizing, organizing, and lobbying politicians, and these different avenues for involvement also allowed new activists to engage in different ways to develop different skills, and lead others in doing them. These different tactics also have different strengths and weaknesses in facilitating leadership development through their execution.

Young Coloradans believe in a future where everyone is treated equally, resources are abundant, and we use innovative and creative solutions to solve big problems such as climate change and racial inequality. 57% of all youth named “equality” as a top value, and 44% named “relationship with Earth” as a top value. Among BIPOC youth, 60% named “technology and innovation” as a top value (with 52% naming “equality” as a top issue). Top issues named by all youth include: racial justice (60%), mental health (58%), healthcare (56%), education (40%) and climate change (40%). Many young people are unsure of where to start to create change but desire to be more involved and learn through experience. Young people strongly value the impact of voting, yet also believe it is insufficient on its own to create change. This report includes lots more specific survey questions and answers.

If we focus on women, we can persuade twice as many people for the same resources. Time and again, women just appear to be significantly more persuadable to become climate advocates than men. In other words, when men and women are shown the same messages, we see significantly higher increases in “support for government action on climate change” with women. Fossil fuel industry messaging works on men, but not much on women. In a test about job creation versus job loss, which pitted a pro-climate message against an ad from the oil-and-gas industry, women were two times more likely to be persuaded to strongly support climate action. Even after viewing the fossil fuel industry’s ad, they remained strong supporters for climate action. In contrast, viewing a fossil fuel industry ad tended to decrease support for action among men; viewing a pro-climate message, which would otherwise increase support among men on its own, did not counteract the fossil fuel industry’s job loss message.

The Climate Reality Project and Citizens’ Climate Lobby were interested in knowing whether informing people about existing bipartisan governmental bodies (e.g., the Climate Solutions Caucus in the US House of Representatives) would make the public, in particular moderates and conservatives, both think and act differently about climate. Their hypothesis was that signaling bipartisanship and governmental provenance in an organization could increase enthusiasm about climate action by showing people that powerful interests could unite to tackle the issue.
They find that messaging about government initiatives (as opposed to business and NGO efforts) significantly increases peoples’ sense of efficacy for climate action, which then translates to increased support for personal action-taking. Among conservative men, emphasizing bipartisan government action increases their support for personal action by 30% compared to the bipartisan NGO condition due to raising their second-order beliefs. In other words, telling conservative men that bipartisan governmental groups exist to work on climate change reduces their propensity to say that the average Republican opposes climate action by the government. The researchers do not find any evidence that emphasizing bipartisan government action increases respondents’ optimism about the climate crisis.

Climate change is a major motivator to support clean energy among civically engaged Latinos. A survey of supporters of the Latino civic engagement organization Mi Familia Vota Education Fund found that climate was as or more often rated as an “extremely important” rationale for moving to 100% clean energy cities than any other reason, including the job benefits it could produce. Additionally, neither school systems nor city government emerged as an obviously more attractive campaign target when survey respondents were asked about their familiarity with and confidence in influencing these two institutions (i.e., “efficacy” beliefs). This research was conducted as part of a field research grant to Climate Parents from the Climate Advocacy Lab.

Prompts to help you think through developing a research project, from big-picture strategy to the specifics of a hypothesis.

Relational climate conversations (talking about climate change with people you know) can be very effective at changing hearts and minds, but requires thoughtful practice to implement and evaluate. It takes more than just trainings and a script. Rather, the tactic only works with an existing organizational support structure that can create a community of collective accountability and help advocates navigate potentially vulnerable social interactions. Intentional focus on community-building and mutual support is key.  A panel presentation as part of the Greenpeace Data Activist Co-Op.