We’ve seen a shift in practitioners knowing more about how they can help their organisations and clients. But if you don’t know where to start here is a safe place to start to learn…

1. What is climate change?

Our climate is being changed by industrial processes, the burning of fossil fuels and destruction of nature.

One of the main measures of climate change is the increase in global average temperatures. The United Nations Paris agreement, signed by nearly 200 countries in 2015, has an overarching goal to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”

However, in recent years, world leaders have stressed the need to limit global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century which “would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change”.

However, recent reports suggest that far from hitting a 1.5°C target, we are heading for a 2°C increase by the middle of the century.

2. Why does it matter?

According to the Met Office, climate change is already having visible effects on the world. The Earth is warming, rainfall patterns are changing, and sea levels are rising. These changes can increase the risk of heatwaves, floods, droughts, and fires.

In addition to the destruction caused, climate change has a huge impact on the health and wellbeing of all countries and peoples of the world.

Climate change is the biggest health risk facing people in the long term. According to the World Health Organisation, negative changes in the climate will affect the social and environmental factors which affect our health, such as clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter.

American reports have shown that climate change can make conditions better or worse for growing crops for example, changes in temperature, rainfall, and frost-free days can impact what can grow and where.

We will also see shifts in biodiversity as a result of climate change - fundamentally altering landscapes and living conditions. In forests and Arctic permafrost zones that act as carbon dioxide reservoirs, for instance, extreme global warming could lead to the release of excess carbon emissions, which would in turn drive further warming — a self-perpetuating cycle.

3. Why do we need to change our behaviours and mindsets?

Nature reports that the impact of climate change is being felt faster than predicted, with the speed of change outstripping the ability of many communities to adapt.

As such we need to slow the rate of change by adapting our behaviours. This is where “net zero” comes in. It is the best way we can tackle climate change by reducing global warming.

Net zero essentially means cutting greenhouse gas emissions to as close to zero as possible, with any remaining emissions re-absorbed from the atmosphere, by oceans and forests for instance.

4. How do I approach starting the conversation in my organisation/with a client?

Saving our planet is now a “communications challenge” according to Sir David Attenborough.

In a blog for the PRCA, Royal Meterological Society offer two main starting points:

1. Establish the facts. There may be uncertainties in data, but what we can do is to communicate what we know and where we have high confidence in what the science is telling us. It is also helpful to talk about risk rather than uncertainty, as people are more familiar with dealing with risks, and it helps to give them some ownership over their actions.

2. One size doesn’t fit all. Ensure your message resonates with your audience. Bring the focus to them, their location and within their lifetime. Climate change is not something happening elsewhere in the world, or in the decades to come, it knows no boundaries and it won’t wait around.

And of course it goes without saying that communicators need to be alert to greenwashing - especially from bigger firms where a study for the journal Plus One found a disparity between green claims and green action. Respondents to another survey in 2019 found that a third of respondents had already declined or refused to engage in green washing and astroturfing campaigns for clients.

Having a critical eye to evaluate an organisations claims is an increasingly vital skill for communicators and as the Royal Meteorological Society explain, climate literacy is a prerequisite to climate action.

If you have any suggestions for more questions you would like answered, get in touch.