Effective Climate Communication with Difficult Audiences

Abstract:

Climate communication is often fraught with ideological baggage (“noise”) that makes it very difficult to connect to audiences. In these cases, it is helpful to use “best practices” known from other fields of communication. Engaging audiences with authenticity, using plain language, respecting cultural and political differences, and a sprinkling of humor can go a long way toward establishing a connection. It’s important to avoid common but polarizing tropes from popular media, and often quite helpful to frame climate issues in novel or unexpected ways that cut across entrenched political discourse. Emerging social science research

Beyond ideology, climate change is Simple, Serious, and Solvable. Effective communication of these three key ideas can succeed when the science argument is carefully framed to avoid attack of the audience’s ethical identity. Simple arguments from common sense and everyday experience are more successful than data. Serious consequences to values that resonate with the audience can be avoided by solutions that don’t threaten those values.