Let’s Bring Everyone on Board!
For the most part, everyone believes we are seeing more weather-related issues. Whether it is because we have more access to news about these disasters from all across the world or (my preferred) we are actually seeing more climate change-related consequences, there is more awareness. Across the board. The farmer in Iowa feels the drought problem whether he agrees that’s its climate-caused or not. While there is a lot to be addressed within the climate community - COP28 saw a session titled ‘Why Catamarans’ focused on wealthy boat owners - I think part of the issue here is that we are quite esoteric in how we discuss climate issues.
Anthropocene. Albedo. Cryosphere. Keeling Curve. Radiative Forcing. I’ve heard these on panels or in conversations with fellow climate techies/scientists/policymakers. No one else in my own home uses these words or phrases in the course of their day-to-day engagements. Without a grasp of what these issues are, because we use terms that show how much we know (and frankly how much we belong to this clique or crew), the general population is left behind. And we need everyone we can get on board. The more we act as gatekeepers of knowledge (and know-it-alls) using niche terminology, the less space we create. No one wants to feel stupid. And the longer we carry on these cliquey conversations, the more stupid we make people feel. This is one problem.
The second problem here is that we even use terms incorrectly. We use the phrases’ Global warming’ and ‘climate variability’ and, unintentionally, soften the real effects of the problems we have in front of us.
Climate change is a global issue that requires collective action from all parts and all peoples of the world. We need to make the information on the problem and the solutions more accessible to any and everyone. On a call with a technician lead who was driving around his city in rural Tennessee last week, he stopped his truck (mid-conversation) to discuss unusual flood conditions that he hadn’t seen in his twenty years of working in the town. He wants things to improve and he knows the current approach (or business as usual) cannot get him to where he wants to go. But he cannot stand the COP28 crowd. He has fewer competent people running his operations and he knows technology will get him there. But he has no interest in discussing the Keeling Curve with anyone. Especially not with custom suit-wearing elite.
So what should we do? Some simple ideas here, it would be hypocritical to offer complex suggestions. We can translate scientific terms into language for the average person. This is where we need marketing or copywriting experts at scale. We should use analogies where possible when we engage. For example: everyone understands the word blanket, use this to describe the greenhouse effect.
The last charge here is to focus on the mass market or public that is currently not even engaged in the conversation currently. Simplifying what we say, how we say it and reminding ourselves that we are all part of the global community that is being impacted by the changes in our climate. We’re all on the same side. Whether we understand the meaning of the word Albedo or not.