Why Climate Communications Haven’t Worked (Yet)

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 (𝗬𝗲𝘁)

We’ve been trying to talk about climate change for decades. We’ve had charts, tears, polar bears, melting clocks and terrifying IPCC acronyms. And still… here we are.
So why hasn’t climate messaging landed? Let’s take a (slightly cheeky) tour of our greatest hits — through the lens of personality types and neurodiverse brain styles:

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 (possibly autistic-coded)
“Let’s show them the data. All the data. That’ll work.”
Public: Huh?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝘁
“If we just tell them how awful everything will be, they’ll have to act.”
“Think Mad Max, but wetter.”
Public: 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘯.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗗𝗛𝗗 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁
“Ok we need urgency, hope, anger, dancing, bees, legislation, tree planting and…” 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴 47 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘯𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 4 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳
Public: “So… should I recycle this or set Parliament on fire?”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿
“This oat milk saved my life. Use code CLIMATEGIRL for 10% off.”
Fair play — people listened (see also paper straws)

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗿
“Let’s speak in net benefits and risk forecasts.”
Public: “Is this a pension ad?”

Meanwhile, the 𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 quietly invested billions into PR firms who whispered,
“Maybe it’s just natural cycles…”
“Isn’t it kind of China’s problem?”
“You’re already doing your bit. Buy reusable cups.”
And the conversation stayed foggy.

𝗪𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵?