Presentation of Jamie Clarke (Climate Outreach) at Sitra 8 Feb 2018 during the Climate Communication Workshop.

1. Climate Change & Public
Engagement
Jamie Clarke
Executive Director
Climate Outreach

5. Programme
9.00 Introduction to the day
Overview: challenges and opportunities
Climate communication principles
Theory and evidence: Language
11.30 – 12.15 Working lunch
Theory and evidence: Visuals
Campaign design
Wrap-up
15.30 Finish

6. Role of Citizens
Individual
mitigation &
resilience
behaviours
Community
Action
Government
Action
International
Action
Business
Action
● 68% of Finland’s emissions are from
households(Syke 2011)
● 33% of 2030 targets could be
achieved using reasonable consumer
actions (2016)

7. Opportunities
• Paris & IPCC report
• Costs - Renewables/Solar
• Trump-backlash
• Economic growth
• Government Buy-in
• High Public Concern, climate change is
still considered a major threat,

8. What’s the situation in Finland?
• Almost 90 % of Finns are concerned about climate change
• 84% of people feel that impacts are already being felt around
the world.
• 67% of Finns believe climate impacts abroad can cause security
threats to Finland.
• Ranked 4th in list of threats Finland needs to prepare for within
the coming decade, behind terrorism, international crime and an
international economic crisis (2017)
• 72% of Finnish people feel that acting for the environment is
important in order to show example.
• 65% believe it makes sense for them to act for the environment
even if others don't do the same.
• 59% consider environmental issues a common topic in everyday
discussions. ((Resource smart citizen, a survey commissioned by Sitra in 2017))

9. • 60% think that Finland needs to cut emissions regardless
of what other countries do.
• Raising taxes on fossil fuels and other sources of
emissions is supported by 50% of respondents.
• Which are the most important actors in terms of climate
action,:United States gets 92%, big emerging economies
91%, international corporations 91%, the EU 83% and
Finland 63%. Individual citizens' choices are considered
important by 65% (Climate Barometre 2015
• 65% estimate they have not changed their behaviour for
climate reasons.
What’s the situation in Finland?

10. Challenges
• Personal carbon emissions high
• Concern is not reflected in everyday
decisions
• Targets need bigger ambition

11. WHAT IS THE STORY OF CLIMATE
CHANGE?

12. Emotional
(Affective)
Reasoning
● Numbers
● Data
● Symbols
● Logic
● Proximity
● Experience
● Social
values
● Metaphor
● STORIES
Prioritisation of
Threat
Evaluation of
Risk
Rational/
Analytic
Reasoning

13. Key Triggers:
- Personal
- Abrupt
- Immoral
- Now
Daniel Gilbert - professor of psychology at Harvard

14. This is the worst kind
of problem-
I am very pessimistic
Professor Daniel Kahneman

15. A difficult risk to perceive
• Not here/not now (temporally and
spatially distant)
• Psychologically distant – not
personally threatening; nothing to link
actions and outcomes
• Affective cues not present
• Uncertainty

16. Resolve:
• Talk about current impacts
• Focus on local effects
• Discuss things they love (not you)

17. A finite pool of worry?

18. Guilt & fear
• Fear can be an effective motivator of
behaviour change – but only under the
right conditions
• The link between the threat and a
behaviour must be personal and direct
• There is a risk that fear appeals can
backfire (denial of the problem)

19. Solutions

20. Solution
• What can be achieved
• Collective Action
• Hopes
• Opportunities
• Co- benefits (health, clean air, jobs)

22. 1: Learn lessons from
previous campaigns, and
be prepared to test
assumptions

24. The people
motivated by
facts and
figures are the
people who
understand
them

25. Maximising Behaviour Change
1. Rebound
2. ‘spillover’ is key
3. Social norms are critical in
understanding sustainable behaviour

26. Env message vs. social norm
vs. personal social norm
Social norm message = 26% increase
Personal social norm message
= 36% increase
Changing towels or changing minds? (Griskevicius et al, 2008)

27. Descriptive vs. injunctive norms
• (Schultz et al, 2007)

28. 2: Public engagement
should start from the
‘values-up’ not from the
‘numbers-down’

30. Hornsey M. et al., 2016, Meta-analyses of the determinants and outcomes
of belief in climate change,. 25 polls, 171 studies over 56 nations
Political worldview is by far the
greatest influence on attitudes to
climate change

31. Beliefs & Attitudes Formation
Personal
Experience
Elite Cues
Social Norms
Broadcast
media
Peer group
VALUES

32. Self Enhancing
Self Transcending
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/1994-31944-001

33. Narrative Feedback loop
Values based
climate
narratives and
imagery
citizen identity
reflected in
climate
narratives
citizens concerns
aligned with
climate concerns
citizens express
their concerns
through their
actions
shift in visible
norms

35. 3: Tell new stories to shift
climate change from a
scientific to a social reality

39. 4: Shift from ‘nudge’ to
‘think’
to build climate citizenship

42. Lesson 1 – We encountered hardly any scepticism
about climate change
Lesson 2 – People knew enough about climate
change to be able to talk about different societal
responses
Lesson 3 – You don’t need to be a climate expert
to have a conversation about climate change
Lesson 4 – People really enjoyed taking part in
the conversations

43. 5: Promote new voices to
reach beyond the
usual suspects

45. What
newspaper
do you
read?
Where do
you go on
holiday?

46. 1 Learn Lessons from past
2. Values up not numbers down
3. New Stories
4. Shift from ‘nudge’ to think
5. New Voices

47. 217,106 views
239125SHARE

48. 363 views
00SHARE

50. Language and Framing

56. Develop narratives to speak
to Welsh identity and support
government policy on climate
change and sustainable
development
Welsh Narratives

58. Sitra 100 - flying and food

60. • Ditch the environmentalist language
• Tell a human story
• Make it close in terms of time and
space
• Connect with what your audience
cares about
• Talk about the real world, not
abstract ideas
• Lead with what you know

61. What does Climate
Change look like?

65. “The here and now of climate
change”

66. 1. Tell new stories

67. Spencer Thomas© Francis R Malasig

68. 2. Show real people, not staged
photo-ops
Authenticity & credibility matter
“I think that
family needs to
get out a little
more.”
© Transition
“Makes me almost
vomit.”
© Andrew
It would be better if
the solar panels
were on the roof of
the school.
©Oliver Rudkin /

69. 10:10
“It looks like real
work is going
on”
Simon Williams (CC BY
People interacting
with renewable
energy

70. In our discussion groups, the link
between individual behaviours &
climate change was not well
understood
In the survey, images of highways
were easily understood
They produced strong negative
emotions, and scored well on desire
to change behaviour across the
political spectrum
© EduWales/Alamy Stock Markus Tracker (CC-BY-ND 2.0)
3. Show climate causes at scale
“[this] is not climate change
because that’s normal to drive
a car. We can’t stop that. It’s
normal.”
Images of congested
highways scored well on
desire to change behaviour
across the political spectrum

71. © United Nations© Alarah Tarralpa /
4. Climate impacts are
emotionally powerful

72. Images of serious ‘local’ climate
impacts connected with people
They produced high ratings of support
for Government policies, and desire to
change own behaviour in the survey
But people had mixed feels about
‘trivialising’ the issue in discussion
groups:
“A flood in this country doesn’t have the
same emotional effect as a flood in
other countries, you’re not massively
inconvenienced in that picture.” [looking
at image depicting a UK citizen flooded
to knee level]
Wendy North (CC-BY-ND 2.0)
tpsdave, CC0, Pixabay
5. Show local (but serious)
impacts

73. “...probably used the
same face paint to
paint himself at a
music festival this
weekend, and rubbed
out climate and put
Kanye West.”
“either hipsters trying
to be cool or... lunatic
extremists.”
© Frank Robichon/European
Pressphoto Agency
6. Be very careful with
protest imagery

74. 7. Understand your audience

75. www.climatevisuals.org

76. Communication
Campaign Design

77. 1. Finnish Public - national narrative
2. Heli - Flying
3. Outi - Electric Car
4. Oras - Meat

78. Audience
Message
Messenger
Medium
Images
Action
Who are you talking to &
what are their values?
What do you say to them?
Who is saying it?
How is it said?
What icons will you use?
What do you want them to
do?

79. 1. Know your audience & speak
to their values
2. Make it relevant and
empowering
3. Tell stories, use metaphors
4. Ditch the traditional
5. Test it

80. #talkingclimate
www.climateoutreach.org