Climate Change Narrative Ain't Working

In New York City for hashtag#ClimateWeek and especially glad to be here with Emma Orfield Johnston of Orfield Laboratories, Inc. Unique in the world, Orfield Labs measures unconscious emotions across the sensory spectrum, and they’ve been perfecting the methodology for five decades.

I’ll admit, I’ve had mixed feelings about hashtag#ClimateWeek in the past. The climate crisis isn’t a once-a-year theme—and I know important climate conversations are happening every day—but talk is the first step. It can build trust, lead to ‘ah ha’ moments, generate ideas, and so forth.

Under Trump’s second regime, we know policy is heading south. Fighting for policy change now is a Sisyphean task. But it’s also an opportune moment to rethink our message and narrative.

We have to engage the public in wholly different ways to have a chance of maintaining a stable climate. And time is not our friend.

I keep seeing the gap between what we know and how we communicate—about food, agriculture, climate, and other supremely complex systems. We desperately need a new climate narrative. We need to speak to people’s emotions and tell powerful, memorable stories.

We still have a chance to recalibrate. If you want to help design this new narrative, let me know.