If PR cares about climate change, it must stop shouting about saving the planet

The 30th UN climate conference takes place from 10-21 November in Belém, Brazil. It will bring together world leaders, scientists, non-governmental organisations, and civil society to discuss priority actions to tackle climate change.

But who actually cares? Research shows that compassion about climate change is in freefall. 

According to a Deloitte report late last year, consumer attention is fading. 61% of UK respondents said they are increasingly uninterested in sustainability, and 47% believe that adopting a more sustainable lifestyle makes no difference. 

It's not just consumers dialling down sentiment. The temperature control on climate tech investment is also cooling. 

While UK climate tech investment rose by about 24% last year, with a positive focus on AI solutions, global investment has been declining. It's hard not to feel alarmed. This is a scary prospect for startups and scaleups driving innovation to transform better planetary health.

The PR industry must act on climate change

But it's more alarming to see what’s been going wrong in the PR industry and the way we’ve been communicating about solutions. 

From the environment to economic health, a narrative has infected our world of climate communications – and travelled far beyond our sector too.

Whether its prose about saving the planet, broadcasting or Labour party rhetoric, the trending tone is about brutal facts. That somehow by heavily frontloading harsh realities, it will mysteriously activate a desired audience reaction: one that starts with understanding, moves to acceptance and ends with accountability. 

This ill-judged theory is based on a belief that if people just know the facts, we will feel better, buy better and become more ‘responsible’. It's a damaging misunderstanding that has influenced content and communications throughout business, government and society.

The truth is that there’s zero gain in gloom. Making people feel guilty, helpless and hopeless is a simple signal trigger to switch off. 

This type of storytelling gears up apathy, drives disconnection and ignites a flight of fear. It's entirely counterproductive.

Whether in-house or agency, NGO, startup or corporate, our sustainable communications sector must swerve the prevailing convention and flip the script.

Change the messaging

In the early days of advertising, those Mad Men pioneers wrote the handbook for compelling communications. Campaigns engage people by selling a better now and a brighter future. An improved version of themselves, home, car or environment. According to the legendary US Creative Director, Bill Bernbach: "Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief." 

A change in our sector communications is not about being flippant, gimmicky or populist. And it's definitely not about glossing over or ignoring the facts. 

But it is an approach that doesn’t nudge or needle people with negativity. This approach starts with the most basic of truths. Your audience already knows that our planet/country/economy/ is in poor health.

It's about adopting new rules of engagement. I’m talking about re-engaging stakeholders with tactics that trigger the dopamine of hope, desire, relevance, excitement and dare I even suggest Fomo.

Having recently joined the board at Wilful, we’ve decided it's time to share the honest truths about communications for climate organisations everywhere. 

Our new PR playbook lifts the lid on what the sustainable communications industry has to change and more importantly, we share how to implement new thinking with examples pioneering best practice.

Here’s three honest truths to get started:

Truth 1: Stop shouting about saving the planet

As the Deloitte report that I mentioned at the start illustrates, compassion for climate change is in decline. And it's not just consumers, global investment in climate innovation is also in decline.

PR takeaways

1. Accept that being good for the planet is expected so lead with a co-benefit. Focus on a relevant angle like saving customers money, driving supply chain efficiencies, or supporting a community.
2. Communicate this shift internally to make sure your people are on board and get behind the new messaging emphasis.
3. Launch the new narrative as a mini campaign that you measure and test. Ensure the content is consistent across all your channels – website, socials, even your recruitment advertising.

Truth 2: Cost matters more than crisis

Businesses are tightening their budgets, and consumer confidence remains low. The result? An “immediacy bias” – where today’s costs and benefits are weighted far more heavily than long-term climate gains. To cut through this mindset, clearly, show how you're helping customers save money now. Build a proposition that withstands the most rigorous scrutiny, whether it’s in a FTSE boardroom or the middle of a Tesco aisle.

PR takeaways

1. Maybe not every product or service is cheaper, so find your equivalent Fomo and focus on that thing that delivers something irresistible and relevant right now.
2. Build case studies and carousels that illustrate how that value manifests for customers.
3. If it’s nuanced, find a way to bring it to life in a way busy people can quickly grasp – a video testimonial or an explainer video enriched with entertainment.
4. Engage influencers to help you land your message, especially if you don’t yet have strong customer use case testimonials.
5. Partner with adjacent brands or service providers to host a webinar or breakfast discussion about how the economics work or how the value accrues in different ways.

Truth 3: Make them smile!

If I ruled the world, my Oscar would go to Samuel L Jackson x Vattenfall for the ‘Motherf***in’ Wind Farms’ video which blasted around social media in support of offshore wind. The power of humour tramples every obstacle to effective communications. Satire is a powerful PR tactic. A-list actors and global advertising helps but if you’re an NGO, ask for a freebie, you never know your luck!

PR takeaways

1. Even though the subject matter and the message is serious, the content doesn’t have to be.
2. You don’t need a huge budget to do this well. Innovations agency What If rewrote company descriptions as if scripted by an NGO to parody the sector’s overuse of jargon in favour of clear copy. A strong idea is enough to power the content and the delivery without pricey production.
3. Humour is accelerant – people share what makes them laugh which amplifies the message still further.

Gaby Jesson is a board advisor at The Wilful Group after a 30-year career building campaigns, consultancies, innovation hubs and working in climate related communications.

Further reading

Energy transition: What social media tells us about the sector's future

PR should be leading the charge on climate adaptation, not hiding behind it

Great PR: the royal visit to a eco-startup that gave Prince William his ‘best day’