Combatting climate fatigue
Our house is still on fire. How can we get people to look up?
There is no such thing as bad publicity
“Activists are throwing food at art”
“Protester glues his head to famous painting“
“Police remove climate protesters from motorway”
After two years of Covid crowding out other emergencies, climate action is returning to the front pages sparking heated discussions even amongst green-minded folk.
In July, Brits and Italian activists glued their hands to the frames of Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Last supper” and Botticelli’s “Primavera”. On 14 October, tomato soup landed on Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflower” painting at the National Gallery in London. A week later, German protesters threw mashed potatoes on Claude Monet’s “Grainstack” in the Barberini Museum in Potsdam. Each worth millions. Each protected by glass preventing lasting damage.
The groups neither tried to destroy nor redesign the masterpieces. They wanted to get noticed. Stories in The Times, Forbes, Reuters and more prove that they accomplished the mission.
American news website Axios documented mixed reactions. Whilst some openly support the protests, others - such as Andy Roddick - condemned their actions and called them “idiots”. A closer look suggests that the activists came more prepared than the rowdy behaviour suggests.
The Conversation looked into it and discovered that the pros often outweigh the cons. Extreme protests increase the support for the issue but not necessarily for the protesters. More moderate groups working on the same topic, however, benefit. This is called the positive radical flank effect.
The climate activists refrained from violence. They did not want to see lasting damage on neither the paintings nor themselves. You might have been surprised to read “Just Stop Oil” and not the name of a well-known environmental NGO. Just Stop Oil is a coalition that does not disclose many details about its members.
Alarmist language can thus work for climate NGOs, yet it has to be in line with the brand. For instance, Sol Agin compared Extinction Rebellion with Fridays for Future and discovered that disruptive actions only helped the former, and optimistic language only worked for the latter. If you believe switching your communication style could help cut through the noise, go for it but consider shielding yourself in a coalition.
The soul is healed by being with children
Radical actions can mobilise supporters but are unlikely to sway those who already disagree. When it comes to climate neutrality, WPKS’s research (in German) identified potential target groups this year prior to the Russian invasion.
They cluster the German population into 10 sinus milieus. The post-material, neo-ecological and “bobo” segment embrace climate action. The wealthy-conservative, pragmatic, traditional clusters plus the ones driven by achievements belong to the hesitant part, and three Sinus milieus speak out against climate action. These are often people in precarious situations worrying about rising costs, nostalgic ones who worry about losing out in the transition and hedonists who do not want to miss out on travelling and fun. If your campaign targets any of the latter three, obstructing traffic will not change their minds.
Hesitant and hostile segments are less open to apocalyptic messages and more open to a narrative appealing to our responsibility to leave a better world for future generations. Discussing - instead of lecturing - how our children could prosper makes the transition towards a climate-positive society appear less intrusive and more beneficial.
Playing the “think about your children” card works with many segments but not with hedonists because they are less altruistic. Here, we need to apply a more playful approach. One option could be developing simulations where they can trigger best case as well as worst case scenarios, which worked in some experiments on communicating environmental hazards. The University of Waterloo and the Financial Times developed games, which could be less jargony but serve as an excellent source of inspiration.
You will find in the studies on sinus milieus not just a list of the segments and their motivations but also an idea of the segments’ respective size in a country. If you try to get a segment on your side, you do not have to spend millions to sway half the population. 15-18% can suffice to hit the social tipping point according to ICF Next's Climate Communication Report.
Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much
Every second European is overweight. You probably bump into an obese person with unhealthy habits on the street, in the bus and in the office. How likely is it that they change if we tell them how many kilos they have to lose? Would it help if doctors explain how their current meals increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, or should we stop fat drivers with signs saying that they cost our society tons of money? Although extra kilos are not the same as greenhouse gases, analogies help identify flaws in our communication.
Fear makes dumb. Self-efficacy makes smart. Neuroscientist Maren Urner provides detailed tips in her speeches to journalists and communicators working on the climate emergency. She warns that apocalyptic messages can put people in a situation where they feel helpless and do not even try to save themselves. Creating urgency pushes people to act yet we have to talk more about solutions than problems if we want to trigger widespread climate action.
Per Espen Stokness admonishes us for fuelling climate fatigue. Constant talk about catastrophes can cause the cry-wolf effect, where people cease to respond to alarms. It is more effective, according to him, to use a framing that promotes collective efficacy. Fritz Reusswig from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research goes even a step further. At this year’s K3 conference, he stressed (in German) the need to pick approachable messengers. If you have to choose between a zealous environmentalist who unplugged the fridge and sold their car or a worker on minimum wage who struggled with but eventually benefited from selling their car, the latter will get more attention.
Stories featuring relatable human heroes also make people aware of the anthropogenic nature to the climate crisis, which is the other big obstacle on our path to a more sustainable future.
Three tips to engage stakeholders
Set the agenda by partnering with radical flank groups.
Focus on kids and games when targeting hostile milieus.
Highlight the role of humans in cooperative success stories.
- written by Benjamin Wilhelm, benjamin[at]thedandeliongroup.eu
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