Future of good climate comms

Following the PRCA National Conference last week, where Chris Pratt from the Climate Comms Group hosted a panel event, here are the opening remarks and talking points plus the deck used.

At a recent event with the CEO of the Advertising Standards Authority, one of the main regulators now sharpening their pencils to address greenwashing, I was struck by two things that he said. The first was that he saw the role of the ASA as being to support the fulfilment of the UK’s plan to deliver net zero, a plan that will require the economy-wide changes and changes to the choices we make and behaviours we follow. What he was describing therefore would require a transformation that from a communications industry perspective would require all hands on deck to deliver. However, something else that he said revealed something of a paradox for our industry to address. He said that he could see environmental communication becoming much more tightly regulated, perhaps even as much as healthcare and drug communications.

And so it is this paradox that we discussed with our distinguished panel focusing on the question Does the Future of Good Climate Communications Require New Regulation? 

Panellists included:
 - Chris Pratt, Managing Director, Better Impact, Hill+Knowlton Strategies
 - Liz Bentley, Chief Executive, Royal Meteorological Society
- Leo Hickman, Director and Editor, Carbon Brief 
- Beth Woodthorpe-Evans, Global Optimism

Questions / topics that we covered during our conversation:

1)                  The merits of different types of regulation, such as:

a.                   Self regulation

b.                   Voluntary frameworks like the Race to Zero from the Climate Champions or Responsible Policy Engagement set out by We Mean Business Coalition

c.                   Regulated qualifications and training of practitioners

d.                   Restricted activities or claims through the likes of the CMA and ASA

2)                  Are there any specific tools that you would recommend or organisations that communications practitioners can use to improve accuracy?

3)                  Whether you have any examples of good or poor climate communications and what the impact of that can be?

4)                  What advice would you give to communications professionals looking to be a better communicator on climate change and environmental issues?

5)                  What specific interventions would you like to see to improve the quality of communications about climate change?

6)                  To what extent do you think regulation is falling behind innovation, so for example influencers have a significant impact on sustainable behaviours? 

Click here to download the deck which also includes top line results from our 2023 industry survey.