Strategy 2: Engage and Educate Across Diverse Communities

2.1 Empower diverse and trusted messengers to communicate climate change issues that resonate with specific communities.

The United States comprises a host of diverse communities based on location, political affiliation, race, socioeconomic status, faith, and other identities—and these communities tend to view climate issues in dramatically different ways. For example, communities that live close to coastlines may associate climate change with observable coastal erosion, while inland communities may worry about climate-related flooding.36 There is now an emerging body of research, including the Proven Principles of Effective Climate Change Communication paper put out by this Commission, that seeks to improve climate messaging strategies.37 Communities engage most effectively with climate issues that reflect their values, such as the protection of public health, conservation, or being a good steward for creation. Communicating well not only helps reach broader audiences but strengthens social cohesion, which improves mental health and better prepares communities to adapt and build resilience.

Communicating climate change has historically been done by scientists and experts who some communities perceive as elite and respond poorly to. For this reason, empowering messengers and trusted leaders from various communities can be more persuasive, especially for reaching skeptical populations. For example, advertising campaigns from New Climate Voices, a group of conservatives focused on effecting climate action by appealing to economic growth, national security, and other issues typically prioritized by conservatives, have successfully increased Republican understanding of climate change.38

Encouraging scientists to emphasize other parts of their identities also facilitates effective communication. For example, the group Science Moms puts a spotlight on climate scientists who are also mothers.39 Communicating about climate issues by emphasizing concern for children’s well-being frames the issue in a way that engages and motivates mothers.

Research has also shown that the most effective communication does not come from sharing scientific knowledge, but through messages targeting emotion, morality, and the human spirit.40 Art, music, and poetry help people understand climate change, connect with the issue emotionally, and take action. For example, the Miami-based CLEO Institute (Climate Leadership Engagement Opportunities) created sculptures of iconic Florida symbols that melted in temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, raising awareness of the impact extreme heat will have on quality of life in the state.

Framing climate issues in personally relevant and less abstract ways also makes it easier to engage diverse communities. Finding the messengers that resonate with audiences is key to successful messaging. For example, the Hip Hop Caucus uses the visibility of popular musical artists to spread climate information, while the organization Good Energy consults on engaging ways to integrate climate issues in TV and film.41 Medical professionals such as nurses and physicians, who remain two of the most trusted professionals, can emphasize the extent of harmful health effects from climate change and the health benefits of many climate solutions.42

Cultural context varies enormously and has a significant impact on communication. For example, the Indochinese Cultural and Service Center considered intergenerational knowledge transfer while communicating with their community about climate issues. Because elders in many Asian/Pacific Islander communities are more likely to listen to their grandchildren than their adult children, they focused on educating the youth on climate issues to spread climate information most effectively throughout the entire community.43

Many of these examples have been funded by philanthropy. For philanthropists seeking to make an impact on climate change, supporting these authentic messengers is a highly effective way to spend resources.

Evangelical Environmental Network: Mobilizing Religious Groups for Climate Action

Communicating climate through values that resonate with different populations is key to building a diverse coalition. Churches and other religious institutions have the power to gather a wide range of people and are often cornerstones in local cultures and communities. Spreading climate information and encouraging engagement in these settings are powerful tools for accelerating climate action.

Traditional climate messaging is rarely successful with more conservative audiences and, as a result, evangelical Americans are less likely to express concern over climate change than the overall American population.44 The Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN), led by Reverend Mitchell Hescox, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to rewrite this relationship by educating and mobilizing evangelical Christians to advocate for climate action.45 The EEN emphasizes Christian responsibility for “creation care,” or the act of caring for all of God’s creations by preventing harmful activities, including those that contribute to climate change.

The EEN provides a variety of resources to help churches and individuals take climate action, including webinars, workbooks, and written materials. Additionally, they have led a campaign focused on how air and water pollution harm unborn children, a key concern for many members. The EEN also runs education initiatives about other key issues, including methane pollution and the protection of public lands. The EEN’s efforts have successfully mobilized conservatives to support federal policies, including Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as other actions to ensure clean energy, pristine air, and pure water.

Endnotes

• 36Brian Kennedy, “Most Americans Say Climate Change Affects Their Local Community, Including 70% Living Near Coast,” Pew Research Center, June 29, 2020.
• 37American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Proven Principles of Effective Climate Change Communication.
• 38See New Climate Voices, (accessed June 12, 2023); and Matthew H. Goldberg, Abel Gustafson, Seth A. Rosenthal, and Anthony Leiserowitz, “Shifting Republican Views on Climate Change through Targeted Advertising,” Nature Climate Change 11 (7) (2021).
• 39See Science Moms; and Potential Energy Coalition.
• 40Amy E. Lesen, Ama Rogan, and Michael J. Blum, “Science Communication through Art: Objectives, Challenges, and Outcomes,” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 31 (9) (2016): 657–660.
• 41For more on the Hip Hop Caucus, see https://hiphopcaucus.org. For more on Good Energy, see https://www.goodenergystories.com.
• 42Kathleen Gaines, “Nursing Ranked as the Most Trusted Profession for 21st Year in a Row,” nurse.org, January 25, 2023.
• 43U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Case Studies from the Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving Program: Models for Success (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008).
• 44Michael Lipka, Becka A. Alper, and Justin Nortey, “Younger Evangelicals in the U.S. Are More Concerned than Their Elders about Climate Change,” Pew Research Center, December 7, 2022.
• 45Mitch Hescox is a member of the Commission on Accelerating Climate Action.

2.2 Support and celebrate concrete commitments to climate action by government, businesses, community groups, and NGOs.

As organizations and governments reduce emissions, public communication about their specific actions can build accountability and inspire others to follow their example. This public communication often takes the form of climate action plans, which detail current emissions and strategies for emissions reduction and improving climate resiliency. Existing initiatives such as the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy have inspired the formation of new climate action plans.46

While celebrating climate action can pressure other corporations to act themselves, these actions must include timelines, monitoring, and accountability. Tools, training, and procedures, such as those provided by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, currently exist to help corporations and governments quantify and manage their emissions and allow for more accurate carbon footprint disclosure.47 Organizations such as Stand.earth and 350.org also track and make publicly available records of these commitments in the Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Commitments Database to increase accountability.48
 

Endnotes

• 46See Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.
• 47See Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
• 48See Global Fossil Fuel Divestment Commitments Database.

2.3 Combat climate misinformation in the news and across social media.

The media has a responsibility to convey information about climate change accurately. Despite this, some outlets have intentionally or unintentionally spread misconceptions (such as conflating weather and climate) or misinformation that complicates understanding.49 The lack of clear, consistent messaging around climate change has created an information environment in which people require basic clarification about the need for action and the appropriate actions to take.50 Though the solutions proposed below focus on climate change, these are also effective remedies to combat the ongoing problems of misinformation in media more broadly.51

Fund, implement, and evaluate a national communication campaign to increase support for climate action.

Though the public is becoming more accepting of the reality of climate change, many people still report confusion over which individual, local, and national and international actions will meaningfully contribute to solving the climate emergency. Misinformation promoting hopelessness about individual action or suggesting that additional consumption is a solution to the climate crisis feeds this confusion.52 To counteract such misinformation, this Commission urges the federal government and philanthropy to design and launch a nationwide climate campaign to credibly reach and inform all Americans and build the social and political will for urgent climate action. The design of such a campaign should take inspiration from the antismoking campaigns of the 1990s and early 2000s that increased public awareness of the dangers of smoking and built broad support for new regulations and penalties on the tobacco industry.

Enforce false advertising laws and amend Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidance on statements about climate change and the environment.

Modern climate misinformation has shifted from climate denial to misleading consumers and activists about the environmental impacts of products or services.53 In other countries, false claims have led to ads being banned and companies being fined, such as the sanctions incurred by the 2019 Ryanair ads falsely claiming that the company was the lowest-emission airline.54 Though similar provisions for false advertising exist within U.S. law, there are few cases in which these have been successfully used.

For the first time since 2012, the FTC is currently amending its Green Guides and is expected to add additional guidance about misleading environmental statements and better definitions for terms such as organic and recyclable.55 The updates will also include guidance on clear and accurate representation in claims about carbon offsets and renewable energy usage. The Commission strongly supports the FTC amending their guidelines to help motivated consumers make climate-informed choices about the products they purchase. Furthermore, the FTC rarely takes enforcement action using the Green Guides standards, having done so only thirty-six times since 2013.56 To increase accountability, the FTC must take more action to address false green marketing claims.

Encourage responsible journalistic coverage of climate change.

News outlets can help make climate change information digestible, factual, and locally relevant. Improving journalistic coverage of climate change has been a growing goal of mainstream news media and specialty journalism. With more than five hundred news partners around the world, from the largest media groups to some of the smallest, Covering Climate Now regularly collaborates with newsrooms and journalists to incorporate climate in news coverage and to create stories that encourage public conversation.57 The organization shares best practices and provides reporting resources.

Journalism organizations and news outlets are also broadening their climate coverage to be more relevant and appealing to their audiences. Climate Matters provides resources for meteorologists to incorporate climate content accurately in their coverage, integrating climate to discuss increases in the populations of mosquitos, the spread of poison ivy, and the likelihood of extreme weather.58 These broadcasts improve public understanding of climate science and drive viewers to act.

Encourage social media platforms and news media to fact check climate misinformation and to incorporate content promoting media literacy.

Many Americans have shifted to social media as their primary source of news. These platforms are significant transmitters of misinformation about climate, health, and other issues because anyone can provide content, and many platforms’ business models rely on algorithms that attract readers into increasingly polarized bubbles.59 Social media platforms should expand their use of fact-checking and other evidence-based ways of controlling misinformation, such as highlighting climate consensus or stating accurate information first.60 Recently, the idea of responding to misinformation has been scrutinized, as even well-executed strategies do not change many minds.61 However, misinformation that is not combatted will gain circulation and drive further public confusion and harmful actions. Recent “soft moderation” by X (formerly Twitter) and other social media platforms has led to a slight reduction in user’s tendency to share false information, but such tactics are not enough.62
 

Endnotes

• 49Kris M. Wilson, “Communicating Climate Change through the Media: Predictions, Politics and Perceptions of Risk,” in Environmental Risks and the Media, ed. Stuart Allan, Barbara Adam, and Cynthia Carter (London: Routledge, 2000), 217–233; Stephan Lewandowsky, Ullrich K. H. Ecker, and John Cook,“Beyond Misinformation: Understanding and Coping with the ‘Post-Truth’ Era,” Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition 6 (4) (2017): 353–369; Jennifer Hoewe, Kathryn Cramer Brownell, and Eric C. Wiemer, “The Role and Impact of Fox News,” The Forum 18 (3) (2020): 367–388; Sharon Beder, “Lobbying, Greenwash and Deliberate Confusion: How Vested Interests Undermine Climate Change,” in Green Thoughts and Environmental Politics: Green Trends and Environmental Politics, ed. M. C-T. Huang and R. R-C. Huang (Taipei: Asia-seok Digital Technology, 2014), 297–328; and Katharine Hayhoe, Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World (New York: One Signal Publishers/Atria Books, 2021).
• 50Matthew J. Hornsey and Kelly S. Fielding, “Understanding (and Reducing) Inaction on Climate Change,” Social Issues and Policy Review 14 (1) (2020): 3–35.
• 51Karishma Sharma, Feng Qian, He Jiang, et al., “Combating Fake News: A Survey on Identification and Mitigation Techniques,” ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology (TIST) 10 (3) (2019): 1–42.
• 52James Morton Turner, “From Woodcraft to ‘Leave No Trace’: Wilderness, Consumerism, and Environmentalism in Twentieth-Century America,” Environmental History 7 (3) (2002): 462–484; Timothy W. Luke, “The (Un)Wise (Ab)Use of Nature: Environmentalism as Globalized Consumerism,” Alternatives 23 (2) (1998): 175–212; and Kyongseok Kim and Sun Joo Ahn, “The Moderating Role of Cultural Background in Temporal Framing: Focusing on Climate Change Awareness Advertising,” Asian Journal of Communication 29 (4) (2019): 363–385.
• 53Ellis Jones, “Rethinking Greenwashing: Corporate Discourse, Unethical Practice, and the Unmet Potential of Ethical Consumerism,” Sociological Perspectives 62 (5) (2019): 728–754.
• 54Ariadne Neureiter and Jörg Matthes, “Comparing the Effects of Greenwashing Claims in Environmental Airline Advertising: Perceived Greenwashing, Brand Evaluation, and Flight Shame,” International Journal of Advertising 42 (3) (2023): 461–487.
• 55Federal Trade Commission, “Federal Trade Commission Extends Public Comment Period on Potential Updates to its Green Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims,” January 31, 2023.
• 56Katie Fowler, “A Consumer’s Guide to Greenwashing” (marketing undergraduate honors thesis, University of Arkansas, 2023).
• 57Covering Climate Now.
• 58Teresa A. Myers, Edward W. Maibach, Bernadette Woods Placky, et al., “Impact of the Climate Matters Program on Public Understanding of Climate Change,” Weather, Climate, and Society 12 (4) (2020): 863–876.
• 59Victor Le Pochat, Laura Edelson, Tom Van Goethem, et al., “An Audit of Facebook’s Political Ad Policy Enforcement,” Proceedings of the 31st USENIX Security Symposium, August 10–12, 2022, Boston, Massachusetts (Berkeley, Calif.: USENIX Association, 2022).
• 60John Cook, Stephan Lewandowsky, and Ullrich K. H. Ecker, “Neutralizing Misinformation through Inoculation: Exposing Misleading Argumentation Techniques Reduces Their Influence,” PLOS ONE 12 (5) (2017): e0175799; and John Cook, “Countering Climate Science Denial and Communicating Scientific Consensus,” in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science, ed. von Stork.
• 61Ullrich K. H. Ecker, Stephan Lewandowsky, John Cook, et al., “The Psychological Drivers of Misinformation Belief and Its Resistance to Correction,” Nature Reviews Psychology 1 (1) (2022): 13–29.
• 62Emily Vraga, Melissa Tully, and Leticia Bode, “Assessing the Relative Merits of News Literacy and Corrections in Responding to Misinformation on Twitter,” New Media and Society 24 (10) (2022): 2354–2371.

2.4 Expand access to climate education across K–16 subjects and into formal and informal education venues. Advocate for climate education in all state curricula and develop tools for knowledge assessment.

The country’s increased engagement on climate change will be easier to sustain over the long term if more Americans have access to climate change education. To that end, sustained climate engagement requires education at the K–12 through university levels, and informally through community outreach, adult education, broadcast science series, museums, and science fairs. Climate science should be incorporated into state curricula and assessments and rooted in known techniques for instruction.63

Advocate for adopting climate standards during state education standards reviews to create lesson plans that incorporate climate learning across subjects.

In the United States, the quality of K–12 climate change education varies from state to state.64 Some states, such as Wyoming, clearly teach anthropogenic climate change across all grades, while others, such as Pennsylvania, do not mention climate change in their standards. However, even in comprehensive frameworks, most climate discussion centers on traditional frames, such as conservation or fossil fuel reduction, instead of adaptation, Indigenous Knowledge, and environmental justice. Further, less than 50 percent of social studies and 5 percent of language arts standards discuss climate change.65 Adequately preparing students for the challenges ahead requires an integrative approach that links climate change with civic engagement, media literacy, and justice. States revise their standards every five to twenty years, typically seeking comments from the public and education experts. Parents, who overwhelmingly support teaching climate change in schools, should continue to advocate for revisions that increase climate content in state standards.66

Create and validate a national assessment instrument to measure climate change knowledge in K–12 and university students.

Improving climate education requires assessing and targeting current gaps in student knowledge. However, while there are instruments to assess student attitudes and beliefs about climate change, there are no standard instruments to measure knowledge, as exist for many other complex and controversial science topics (such as evolution, genetics, and vaccines).67 Developing and validating this instrument would improve national monitoring of climate knowledge growth and refine educational approaches to address remaining gaps. Education researchers should make the development of this tool a priority. Educators should use these results to develop curricula that address knowledge gaps and help integrate climate concepts outside the science classroom. Key topics include balancing risks and benefits, political decision-making, and the consequences of inequality.

Fund experiments to design and test new methods for integrating climate across curricula.

Participatory experiences like place-based learning and activities that focus on collective causes and action are effective strategies for climate education. Role-playing games, such as the World Climate Simulation, are particularly effective for strengthening applied climate knowledge.68 School-based projects, such as environmental advocacy or climate action plans, further help students get involved in climate action. While many curricula use these strategies, they often require significant funding and climate knowledge to teach, which amplify existing inequities in education.69 Therefore, an investment must come from the district or state rather than individually motivated teachers.

This experimental approach requires testing new curricula and evaluating which approaches are effective.70 Philanthropy, school boards, and state educational institutions should provide funding for education researchers to test curricular efficacy.
 

A Role for Informal Science Education

Informal science education outside the traditional school system can be a powerful tool to integrate climate education into different venues, educate people who may not thrive in a structured classroom environment, and extend the reach and audience for climate knowledge. Science fairs, climate weeks, museums, libraries, nature centers, civic organizations such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America, and faith groups, including adult study groups, Sunday schools, Hebrew schools, and youth groups, all can be effective platforms for climate education. These opportunities allow climate information to reach audiences of all ages and geographic regions, including those where climate change is not adequately taught in the school curriculum.

The Science Festival Alliance highlights science festivals in locales nationwide, from Alabama to Virginia, Colorado, Massachusetts, and California.71 These festivals allow the public to engage with climate science and scientists. They also provide resources for those interested in setting up new community festivals. Collaboration with local museum exhibits and discussions provides additional opportunities for increased exposure to climate change science outside the classroom.

Informal science education opportunities are beneficial because they are often free or available at low cost and are accessible to all ages and a wide range of demographics. However, local views of climate science and policies can sometimes dissuade event and program organizers from implementing informal science education opportunities and programs where access to this information would be most impactful. Framing climate issues in a local context, increasing accessibility of scientific information, ensuring available funding, and forging partnerships and collaborations with experts help overcome these barriers.

Endnotes

• 63Martha C. Monroe, Richard R. Plate, Annie Oxarart, et al., “Identifying Effective Climate Change Education Strategies: A Systematic Review of the Research,” Environmental Education Research 25 (6) (2019): 791–812.
• 64“States at a Glance” in National Center for Science Education and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, Making the Grade? How State Public School Science Standards Address Climate Change (Washington, D.C., and Austin: National Center for Science Education and the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund, 2020).
• 65North American Association for Environmental Education and EDGE Research, “The State of Climate Change Education: Findings from a National Survey of Educators” (Washington, D.C.: North American Association for Environmental Education, 2022).
• 66Anya Kamenetz, “Most Teachers Don’t Teach Climate Change; 4 in 5 Parents Wish They Did,” NPR, April 22, 2019.
• 67Ross H. Nehm and Louise S. Mead, “Evolution Assessment: Introduction to the Special Issue,” Evolution: Education and Outreach 12 (1) (2019): 1–5; and Michelle K. Smith, William B. Wood, and Jennifer K. Knight, “The Genetics Concept Assessment: A New Concept Inventory for Gauging Student Understanding of Genetics,” CBE—Life Sciences Education 7 (4) (2008): 422–430.
• 68Juliette N. Rooney-Varga, John D. Sterman, Eduardo Pedro Fracassi, et al. “Combining Role-Play with Interactive Simulation to Motivate Informed Climate Action: Evidence from the World Climate Simulation,” PLOS ONE 13 (8) (2018).
• 69U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Climate Change Resources for Educators and Students,” last updated May 16, 2023; and Ann Hindley, “Understanding the Gap between University Ambitions to Teach and Deliver Climate Change Education,” Sustainability 14 (21) (2022): 13823.
• 70David Rousell and Amy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles, “A Systematic Review of Climate Change Education: Giving Children and Young People a ‘Voice’ and a ‘Hand’ in Redressing Climate Change,” Children’s Geographies 18 (2) (2020): 191–208.
• 71Science Festival Alliance.