A couple of days ago, I entered the Climate-section of a leading Norwegian media house. The first three headlines read:
"Tornado and monster hail in Northern Italy. 45 degrees in Rome. Massive forest fires in Greece. According to a researcher, this is only the beginning.”
"Report: Melting glaciers in Svalbard are accelerating climate change."
“Norwegians' favorite holiday destination is on fire. The warnings came as early as the 1970s."
Hell doesn´t sell
We know from behavioral studies and climate psychology that people generally do not act based on such messaging. The stakes are just too high unless you´re a doomsday prepper. Most of us are not.
And we shouldn´t. There are ways out of this mess, and we should start to address the real reasons why we got here in the first place.
According to the IPCC, the oil, coal, and gas industry alone accounts for approximately three-quarters of global emissions.
I encourage you to read this semi-long blog post going more in-depth on the topic:
Five reasons why doomsday messaging does not drive climate action
Based on psychology and behavioral sciences, Per Espen Stoknes gives five reasons people skip engaging with climate issues.
Disengagement: People tend to distance themselves from things that don't directly affect them. However, the disengagement barrier can change when it becomes personal or they see stories about families barely escaping the flames.
Doomsday: Climate discussions often paint images of "hell breaking loose," which comes with a psychological cost. It becomes the classic "cry wolf" story. Each time people hear about it, they become gradually more numb, leading them to avoid such messages and messengers altogether.
Dissonance: The brain is adept at justifying not climate-friendly actions, much like sugar or smoking. People find ways to rationalize these choices to themselves.
Denial: Such dissonance can lead some individuals to live double lives, pretending not to know what they know about climate issues.
Identity: For instance, climate messages can attack their identity if someone's job relies on fossil fuels or fuel consumption. This prompts them to seek opinions, statistics, and understandings confirming their identity and lifestyle.
Understanding these barriers is essential for developing strategies to break them down and encourage action for a sustainable future.
So what to do instead?
People tend to act when invited into a story they want to be in. Most of us just cannot cope with a doomsday narrative.
So let´s use every opportunity to point to all the already available solutions!
I´ve written a five-part mini-series on solutions and best practices - first post here: https://www.pederspeaks.com/post/make-your-customer-the-hero
We solve this systemic problem with systemic solutions.
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