A major new study sheds light on persistent shortcomings in climate change communication despite growing public concern. It found that although support for government action on climate remains steady, media coverage and brand sustainability messaging have sharply declined. This gap emerges even as climate-related disasters and their economic impacts become increasingly visible.
Drawing on extensive data from over 83,000 survey respondents across six countries and more than a thousand randomized trials, the report identifies five critical flaws in current messaging: it is too complex, abstract, extreme, global in focus, and ideological. These factors have alienated broad audiences, including those politically right-leaning, traditionally viewed as harder to persuade.
The analysis shows that direct messages connecting climate change to personal financial risks and health concerns outperform indirect appeals related to jobs or innovation by almost two to one. Notably, well-crafted messages achieved their greatest impact among right-leaning groups, shifting attitudes significantly more than among centrist or left-leaning audiences, challenging the belief that only the political middle can be swayed.
The study prescribes three key adjustments to messaging strategies: make climate consequences tangible and urgent by linking them to everyday costs like insurance or home safety; ground causes in pollution rather than the broader, less concrete concept of climate change; and frame solutions as enabling and expansive rather than limiting or punitive. These recommendations aim to counteract the communication breakdown that coincides with a rise in nationalism and public skepticism.