For one of the most important issues of the generation, climate change is surprisingly fringe.
As an example – I come from New Zealand, and while there are dedicated sections on news websites for topics like “lifestyle” and “sport” there isn’t an obviously marked section for climate change.
Maybe this is because the subject is viewed as too science heavy, gloomy or unappealing to most readers. But I think that it doesn’t need to be that way. I believe it can be motivating and meaningful and infused with passion.
These are my initial thoughts for how we could do that. As a caveat, this is my opinion as a non-scientist, and I am very early on in learning about this subject. It is simply based on my observations and reflections as I have started to embark on my own climate change journey.
Getting out of the hard sciences for a bit
I quit science subjects when I was 16 years old. And I’m in the majority in not having a science background – in the U.S. the STEM workforce makes up 24% of the total workforce, a significant number but still not most people.
The problem is, we need most people to care about climate change and engage with the subject. So how do we bridge the gap?
In my opinion, there’s an opportunity to focus less on the facts and figures around climate change and to start having more conversations at different levels – philosophy, psychology, pop culture. We need more of an interdisciplinary approach, and one that is more inclusive of those without a science background.
Understanding the science shouldn’t need to be a pre-requisite in engaging with this issue. It matters to all of us.
Selling a vision first and foremost
When I started reading books about climate change, what got me most excited and engaged with the subject was where I could start to see a realistic vision for the future.
Not just goals or things that we should do. But a reimagining of what life could look like.
It’s like when you plan out a project and start with the end goal then work backwards. Maybe we need more visions of the future set out first, getting people excited and engaged, followed by the blueprints of how we get there.
This may come across as very idealistic – developing this kind of vision is far more complex than I’m making it sound. But I think it’s worth the challenge.
In an ideal world, what would a sustainable future look like? How would our homes operate, our workplaces, our cities? Do we have visual models that the public can explore? Maybe these already exist – if so, let’s get them in front of more people so that we can all imagine potential futures together.
Bringing it into everything that we do
When I worked in policy, if a paper was being produced it had a lot of eyes over it from different teams. Arguably, this slowed things down, but it also meant that you would put many different lenses over a particular issue or problem.
This pushed thinking beyond what people considered to be the immediate boundaries of the problem and broke up silos. You might get a paper and not think it was relevant to your area at first, but then with a bit of thinking you found the connection.
I think we need to put a climate lens over more of what we do, even the things that aren’t immediately obvious. Maybe your business has sustainability or climate measures as part of your KPIs, or even better, is exploring ways to be climate leader in your sector. Or, if you write papers for the government, you have a climate change section as part of those papers.
This doesn’t need to be a tiresome or box checking exercise – it can be exciting and rewarding. This is an emergent area, and it’s energising to consider how we can all make a difference.
Giving people the tools to think about how they can contribute
This last point is linked to the one above. I believe people need to feel empowered to make positive choices in this area – and to feel like it’s coming from them, with the tools and support to do it.
I imagine this looking like being given frameworks to help inspire and catalyse people’s thinking, ideally with businesses following up with input from climate consultants/experts to validate whether ideas align with best practice.
Importantly, tools need to be accessible and focused on positive impact. In my view, they should focus on the opportunity – the chance to be innovative and lead the way. I believe we can do more than just tinker with the way we do business (cut down on paper and so on) and have the chance to act more boldly.
So, within your sphere of influence, how can you change the conversation? How can you push this out of the fringes and into the mainstream? What actions will make the biggest impact, not just for your business goals, but for the world? And how can you get the word out there to inspire others to do the same?
In short – let’s inject some energy into this problem. I really do believe that the motivation and hope that I feel when I read about inventive climate solutions could be infectious – if we could only harness it.
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