Communicating Climate Change

This episode features a conversation with cognitive scientist, Hugo Mercier. It was recorded in February 2023.Hugo studies human reasoning and communication, as well as cultural evolution, working out of the Jean Nicod Institute in Paris. He is the co-author, alongside Dan Sperber, of The Enigma of Reason, and the author of Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who we Trust and What we Believe. Not Born Yesterday is the book that brought Hugo to my attention and is a highly recommended read for anyone interested in persuasion and influence. If, like me, you come from a marketing and communications background, it might tickle your cognitive biases, but it’s a super constructive read.Amongst other things, Hugo and I discussed the reasons that climate change is so hard for humans to grasp, how we assess messages we’re exposed to as credible, or not, and what happens when we encounter information that doesn’t align with our existing beliefs. Additional links:Not Born Yesterday: The Science of Who We Trust and What We BelieveHugo’s profile at the Jean Nicod InstituteThe Enigma of Reason, co-authored with Dan Sperber

This episode features a conversation with Celine Novenario, Digital Content Manager at the Global Center on Adaptation. It was recorded in February 2023.Celine is a multimedia storyteller and strategist who has spent the last 15 years deploying communications outreach for international organizations and think tanks ranging from the Carnegie Climate Governance Initiative to the World Meteorological Organisation, as well as the United Nations. During the latter half of that period, Celine’s work has focused specifically on climate change communication, harnessing the latest digital trends and technologies to amplify associated stories and content. Amongst other things, we discussed the unique ability of social media and digital communications to drive engagement with new audiences and to provide voices to those who might otherwise be voiceless, as well as how we might better conduct ourselves as climate change communicators in this often overwhelming information environment.  Additional links:The Global Center on Adaptation's website and State & Trends in Adaptation reportClimate Interactive En-ROADS simulatorA video about the MoA-Info SMS service for farmersThe amazing Katharine HayhoePique Action on TikTokThe Kurzgesagt video that's an antidote to climate change hopelessness

This episode features a conversation with Mairi Dupar, a Senior Technical Advisor in the Global Risks and Resilience Programme at independent global think tank, ODI. It was recorded in December 2022.Mairi, whose expertise lies in climate risk management and ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change, works with colleagues in Africa, South Asia and Latin America on enhancing and restoring ecosystem functions for nature and people as part of a holistic approach to implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change. She’s also worked extensively on social inclusion - especially regarding the rights of women and historically disadvantaged groups - in climate policies and investments.Mairi has worked at ODI since 2010, where she previously worked as Head of Knowledge Management for the Climate and Development Knowledge Network. She also serves as the Technical Lead of the Knowledge Hub for Gender Equality in a Low Carbon World.Mairi provides research support for the Climate Ambition Support Alliance, which works to amplify the voice and influence, as well as defend the interests, of small island states and least developed countries in the international climate change negotiations. Before joining ODI, Mairi worked as a Senior Research Associate at the World Resources Institute. She was also a Campaign Coordinator and science writer at RSPB/BirdLife, working especially on tropical forest restoration, renewable energy and marine conservation.Amongst other things, our discussion explores where and when certain messengers might not be the best choice, how communicators can work with partners for greater impact, and the importance of always remembering to put things in local terms. Additional links:ODI’s websiteCommunicating climate change - a practitioner’s guideFree resources from the Climate & Development Knowledge Network

This episode features a conversation with Markus Reymann, Director of the research center and cultural ecosystem, TBA21–Academy. It was recorded in September 2022. The organisation, which Markus co-founded back in 2011, fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and exchange surrounding the most urgent ecological, social, and economic issues facing the ocean today. In his role, Markus leads the non-profit’s engagement with artists, activists, scientists, and policy-makers across the globe, catalysing new commissions, bodies of knowledge, and policies that advance the conservation and protection of the ocean. He also serves as Chair of Alligator Head Foundation, the scientific partner of TBA21–Academy, which maintains the East Portland Fish Sanctuary and oversees a marine wet laboratory in Jamaica. Markus has presented on art and the oceans at conferences around the world, and represents TBA21–Academy in the Mission Healthy Oceans Board, as an officially endorsed Member of UNESCO’s Decade of Ocean Science, and as an observer at the International Seabed Authority.Our discussion weaves through the many and varied ways that art can respond to the climate crisis, how it can serve as a bridge between the public and an array of knowledge systems - including, but not limited to - science, and, amongst other things, what sets art apart as a means to connect with an audience. Additional links:TBA21-Academy websiteOcean Space in VeniceJoan Jonas - Moving Off the Land IIJana Winderen - Between Dry Land

This episode features a conversation with award-winning campaigner, Harriet Kingaby. It was recorded at the end of October 2022. Harriet is an activist working at the intersection of advertising, climate change, and misinformation, and has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands, start-ups, and social enterprises to land international climate change campaigns, build brands with purpose, and create behaviour change programs with impact. She co-founded The Conscious Advertising Network, something we’ll hear plenty about in this episode, and works as Insight Lead at Media Bounty, a creative and media agency that believes environmental and social innovation drives business performance. After some obligatory Brit-on-Brit weather chat, our conversation gets stuck into all things greenwashing.Additional links:Conscious Advertising NetworkACT Climate LabsMedia BountyClean CreativesBrief Sabotage Handbook

This episode, an extended holiday special, features a conversation with scientist turned filmmaker and writer, Randy Olson. It was recorded in November 2022. Randy, who got his PhD at Harvard, left a tenured professorship in marine biology to attend film school, before spending 25 years making movies. His output in this field includes documentary features about attacks on science, and a comedy about global warming that Variety called, “an exceedingly clever vehicle for making science engaging for a general audience”. By 2008, Randy noted that the anti-science sentiment in society was getting serious, and so started writing books, kicking off with Don’t Be Such A Scientist, which discussed the problem of poor communication of science. Around this time, institutions started asking Randy to run workshops, focused on the solution to this communication problem, which Randy believes resides in the power of narrative structure. He’s since gone on to write many more books, including Houston, We Have a Narrative, which brought Randy to my attention and, well, literally changed the way I think about communication entirely. He's done TED Talks, won all kinds of awards, and has trained thousands of scientists, students, and government staff in the power of narrative. Randy is a fountain of knowledge and has an infectious energy. Our conversation taps into one of the tools from Randy’s latest book, The Narrative Gym, looking at how we can close the gap between a hypothetical world where the last 50 years of communicating climate change had gone perfectly and the world we live in where, in Randy’s opinion, it didn’t. Whether you’re a scientist, a journalist, a marketer, whatever, there’s plenty to chew on. Please be warned, there is a single f-bomb in this episode. Additional links:Randy’s new book, The Narrative GymRandy’s website, The ABT FrameworkSizzle, a global warming comedyRandy’s first book, Don’t Be Such A ScientistThe book that brought Randy to my attention, Houston, We Have a Narrative1985 Royal Society report about Public Understanding of ScienceMichael Crichton’s obfuscation paper from 1975

This episode features a conversation experienced environmental communications practitioner, Joanna Benn. It was recorded in November 2022. Jo, who works as Director of Strategic Communications Partnerships and Special Projects at the Nature Conservancy, specialises in communicating, campaigning, and writing on international environmental issues. Having started her career as a broadcast journalist, has worked across the globe for think tanks, foundations, and NGOs, as well as the United Nations Environment Programme.Our discussion jumps off from a recent article Jo wrote about her feeling that the environmental movement is somewhat lacking when it comes to imagination, as well as on getting real with audiences and providing vivid visions of the future and what it will entail for us all. Additional links:Jo’s article The Climate Crisis is a Crisis of ImaginationThe Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley RobinsonThe Future We Choose by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett CarnacEarth4All from The Club of Rome

This episode features a conversation with narrative scholar, Michael D. Jones. It was recorded in September 2022. Mike is Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Department of Political Science and faculty fellow at the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy. He got his PhD in Political Science back in 2010 and went on to be a postdoctoral fellow at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. Currently, he’s editor-in-chief of the Policy Studies Journal and has published in a broad range of journals including Political Psychology, Social Science Quarterly, Policy and Politics, and Critical Policy Studies, amongst others. Mike’s primary research interest is policy theory, where he has devoted most of his attention to developing the Narrative Policy Framework, a framework focused on understanding the role of stories in shaping policy processes and outcomes.Our conversation centres around all things narrative, talking about the building blocks that make up stories, why narratives are better than just presenting facts, and some aspects of narrative design that we ought to pay attention to in our communication efforts. Additional links:Michael D. Jones on TwitterA Narrative Policy Framework: Clear Enough to Be Wrong?Cultural Characters and Climate Change: How Heroes Shape Our Perception of Climate ScienceCommunicating Climate Change: Are Stories Better than “Just the Facts”?Narratives as tools for influencing policy change

This episode features a conversation with Marcos Pelenur, Head of Sustainability and Decarbonization at the Behavioural Insights Team, Americas. It was recorded at the beginning of October 2022. The Behavioural Insights Team generates and applies behavioural insights to inform policy, improve public services, and deliver results for citizens and society at large. And in his role, Marcos works to develop and implement the Behavioural Insights Team’s sustainability and decarbonization strategy. Previously, Marcos headed up Strategy, Insights and Regulations at New Zealand’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, which has the mission of mobilising New Zealanders to be world leaders in clean and clever energy use. Here, Marcos worked across government entities to deliver strong, evidence-based programme design, as well as the implementation of energy efficiency standards and regulations. Prior to this, Marcos worked across a range of senior policy leadership positions at New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment and also headed the Behavioural Insights Team’s work on energy and sustainability in the UK. He’s guest lectured on Behavioural Economics at the University of Victoria and taught "Introduction to Behavioural Economics for Policy" for the New Zealand Government Economics Network. He holds a PhD and MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge. And before all of that, Marcos worked as an engineer in smart metering and energy management. Our conversation, which is packed with actions for us, as communicators, to consider in association with our outreach, covers the many and varied ways that behavioural insights can contribute to more effective communications, particularly when it comes to engaging audiences about climate change. Additional links:Behavioural Insights Team websiteThe Little Book of Green Nudges

This episode features a conversation with climate disinformation specialist, Jennie King. Recorded at the end of September 2022. Jennie is Head of Civic Action and Education at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, or ISD, leading efforts to translate their digital research into frontline programming and response. She co-authored the current ‘Be Internet Citizens’ curriculum, formally accredited for UK schools, and provides regular briefings for UK government departments and regulators, UNESCO, and parallel European and US bodies on systemic approaches to media literacy. Jennie also oversees ISD’s portfolio on Climate Mis- and Disinformation, supporting a coalition of over 30 organisations worldwide to identify, analyse and counter the related harms. This includes running the first ever COP ‘War Room’ monitoring disinformation threats at the COP26 summit, which is running again at COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In June 2022, Jennie launched the largest ever report on this issue - titled, ‘Deny, Deceive, Delay: Documenting and Responding to Climate Disinformation at COP26 and Beyond’ - on behalf of the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition.I was thrilled that she took the time to talk to me about climate disinformation, the role of social media in spreading it, and, amongst other things, some concrete ways that we can make a difference in the information war.Additional links:Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s websiteDeny, Deceive, Delay: Documenting and Responding to Climate Disinformation at COP26 and Beyond (Executive Summary)Deny, Deceive, Delay: Documenting and Responding to Climate Disinformation at COP26 and Beyond (Full Report)