Our low carbon economy lead, Charlie Leaman Pearce, explores how to effectively communicate climate action in the face of barriers like misinformation, mistrust, and competing priorities.
“Saving our planet is now a communications challenge. We know what we need to do, we just need the will to do it” — David Attenborough
This powerful quote, shared by Sir David Attenborough in a 2020 social media video, echoes the consensus that sustainability teams are no longer short of evidence that tackling climate change is the right thing to do; they’re short of traction.
The science is clear and the pathways exist, but people only act when they understand, care, and feel able to do something. Right now, noise, mistrust, and competing priorities make that harder than ever.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, climate change still ranks in the top 10 issues in the UK, and 84% of people have already changed their behaviour [1]. Those who haven’t often feel their actions won’t matter, that big polluters are the real problem, or that the cost is too high. At the same time, geopolitical tensions, combined with the rise of censorship, complicate the dialogue, creating barriers to collaboration and understanding.
Despite these challenges, as climate change escalates, so does the need for effective communication strategies. Whether you’re a sustainability lead seeking buy in, a local authority engaging residents, a business aligning suppliers, or a university communicating net zero, this article explores how to communicate climate action in ways that grow support, cuts through distortion, and helps amplify impact.
A perfect storm for climate action communication
Climate sits at the intersection of complex science, political interests, media incentives, and public understanding. This quagmire of often conflicting factors complicates climate communication and makes it vulnerable to distortion.
People are often saturated with climate messages about risk and urgency when consuming media like the news or scrolling social media. In the absence of agency, this doom freezes people. Add political polarisation and many feel pushed to “choose a side” rather than empowered to focus on practical solutions that improve daily life.
Whilst many people are doing impressive work to address the climate crisis, the wider picture includes governments and global leaders rolling back on commitments. Misinformation adds another layer. The recent flawed £9.5 trillion “cost of net zero” claim is a good example of dramatic claims spreading faster than corrections. What’s more, climate is not the only issue people are facing. For those struggling with bills or childcare, for instance, it’s hard to focus on decarbonisation.
From anxiety to agency
If fear-led messaging leads to paralysis, then effective climate communication must shift from anxiety to agency. Climate communications should centre on hope, relevance, and a sense that actions contribute to something meaningful, such as a better quality of life.
The Changeprint concept, launched by Carbon Copy in January 2026, can help here. While a carbon footprint measures what we remove, a Changeprint shows what we gain, especially when people act together: stronger communities, healthier environments, better services, and a sense of belonging. It reframes climate action from giving things up to gaining something valuable.
Optimism acts as a powerful catalyst here. Highlighting examples of climate action that work counters the oppressive narrative that nothing we do matters and helps to build momentum.
If everyone acts, change is possible. When people act within communities or across organisations, impact grows and becomes more visible.
If we shift from anxiety to agency, our communications must shift too. Here’s how.
1. Lead with co-benefits
Co benefits are often the quickest route to support. People embrace changes that save money, improve health, and enhance services — even if climate isn’t their main motivation. Bringing these benefits to the front makes climate action feel like common sense. Stakeholders, however, vary in knowledge, priorities, and motivations, so co-benefits must be framed through their lens.
2. Tailor the message to the audience
A one-size-fits-all approach misses the mark due to conflicting priorities. Finance teams are under pressure to consider risk and cost avoidance as priorities. Operations teams focus on workflow and practicality. Staff and residents prioritise convenience, cost, and comfort. Tools like values segmentation (e.g., Britain Talks Climate) help shape messages that resonate without polarising. The aim is constructive alignment, not persuasion at all costs.
3. Local stories work better than global ones
People relate most strongly to climate issues when they intersect with their daily lives. A recent report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism showed that across eight countries, climate stories linked to local news and weather land best [1]. Global framing can sometimes clash with more locally or family-oriented worldviews. These perspectives are not wrong; messaging simply needs to connect with what people value.
4. Frame climate action as a human story
In a similar vein, compassion and empathy are essential in climate communication. Climate is not just science — it’s people, place, health, fairness, and quality of life. Messages are more powerful when they link to lived experiences: heating bills, flooding, school runs, and workplace comfort. Empathy opens the door, and relevance keeps it open.
5. Involve stakeholders early
Engagement works best when it starts before you write the climate plan. Bringing in operations teams, suppliers, staff, communities, and leaders early builds ownership and reduces pushback. It also creates champions who can explain and defend the work. Representation also matters — stakeholders should reflect the diversity of those affected.
6. Be transparent and leave space for questions
People trust what they understand. Creating deliberate space for questions helps shift conversations from “why are you doing this?” to “how can we make this work?”. Being open about costs, trade-offs, and uncertainties builds credibility. Sharing your assumptions and updating them visibly as you learn builds trust.
7. Navigate the political landscape
Climate communications don’t exist in isolation. Political narratives, media cycles, and policy shifts all influence how messages land. Understanding this context helps communicate in ways that reduce polarisation and maintain momentum.
Practical steps to build momentum
Organisations can build confidence and sustain action by:
- Making progress visible through dashboards, case studies, and on-site signage.
- Using pilots to build belief — start small, learn and share the story — visibility breeds confidence.
- Training messengers in carbon literacy so leaders, managers, and teams can explain the “why” and the “how”.
- Building communities of practice to share insights, resources, and lessons. Peer networks help maintain momentum even when external narratives become noisy.
- Growing factchecking confidence by teaching staff the skills to assess information sources. Encourage curiosity over certainty to reduce the spread of misinformation.
How Eunomia can help
Eunomia supports organisations to design and deliver climate communications that unlock real action, including:
- Decarbonisation training programmes for leaders, managers, and delivery teams.
- Climate communications research & strategy
- Public-facing materials for net zero plans
- Stakeholder facilitation: roundtables, supplier engagements, and open Q&A
Our approach blends empathy, evidence, and practicality—ensuring climate plans are not just publishable, but implementable.
No matter your role, the principles that shape your approach should remain the same:
Empathy first. Relevance always. Co-benefits upfront. Stakeholders at the table early.
In a world full of noise, clear and human communication is the lever that turns climate strategies into sound results.
[1] Office for National Statistics Public opinions and social trends, Great Britain: October 2025. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/publicopinionsandsocialtrendsgreatbritain/october2025
[2] Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (2024) Climate change and news audiences: Analysis of news use and attitudes in eight countries. University of Oxford. Available at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/climate-change-and-news-audiences-report-2024-analysis-news-use-and-attitudes-eight-countries