12 Climate Change Communication Principles

Communication Working Group White Paper

Proven Principles of Effective Climate Change Communication

This publication identifies examples that illustrate 12 climate change communication principles.

1. Prioritize a climate frame in news. News media can increase the salience of climate change by relating its effects (for example, an increase in extreme weather events such as wildfires, drought, and hurricanes) to human causes.
2. Communicate consensus. People are more likely to believe climate change is happening and caused by human beings if they understand that the scientific evidence justifies these conclusions and that there is a scientific consensus about both.
3. Change social norms. People are susceptible to peer pressure. When individuals feel that their neighbors expect them to act in a more climate-friendly way, those individuals are more likely to take science-consistent climate action.
4. Overcome the spiral of silence (if you believe it, say it). Those who view the belief in the realities of climate change as an unpopular position are less likely to share their science-consistent beliefs about it with others, which makes others who may agree less likely to voice their views as well. To overcome the “spiral of silence,” people should share their science-consistent climate views.
5. Emphasize nonscientific identities. Scientists and other experts can minimize the polarizing effects of tribal identity by emphasizing aspects of identity that they share with their audience. While many Americans oppose elitism and, correspondingly, messages from elite scientists, people identify with those they see as like them.
6. Frame climate change as an in-group issue. People listen to and believe people they think of as like them and as liking them. Such in-group validation increases the acceptance of climate realities among those who identify with groups historically associated with a rejection of climate action.
7. Make messages locally relevant. Many people in the United States align their identity with groups that have historically doubted climate change. When communicators convey information about a changing climate without attacking these identities, they can convince people more readily. Those who see an issue as local are more likely to be concerned about it and are more likely to support policy solutions to it. Strategies to accomplish this include adapting messages to local audiences and communicating through local messengers.
8. After priming an accuracy motivation, encourage audiences to draw their own conclusions. Asking audiences to focus on accuracy before presenting data can minimize motivated reasoning. Inviting audiences to examine the scientific data and draw their own conclusions serves that purpose.
9. Combine hope with actions. When provided with engaging stories that convey hope, people are more likely to take action. Narratives have unique persuasive power. People who are confident their actions will have an effect are more likely to feel motivated to act.
10. Help people take actions themselves. When problems are seen as large, individuals can become fearful and hopeless. People engage with climate science and support taking action when they believe that the actions they, as individuals, take will matter.
11. Demand accountability. Organizations are not only collections of individuals; they also respond to the collective demands of those on whom they depend for survival. One of the individual actions that a person can take is to insist that the groups of which they are a part (for example, local, state, and federal governments; businesses; social groups; educational and financial institutions) engage in the kinds of science-consistent action required to create a sustainable future.
12. Encourage commitments in the form of accountable climate action plans. When people, organizations, and governments make concrete commitments through climate action plans, they are more likely to take the promised action. Concrete commitments also help others hold them more accountable and reduce the likelihood of greenwashing.