The power of human narrative: Inspiring action on climate change

Abstract

News reporting on climate catastrophes can be sensational and shocking, and thereby rightly evoke the commensurate sense of enormity and immense challenge inherent in climate change. The global governance solutions, however, present as insufficient to the scale of the problem and hampered by geopolitical, economic, energy resource needs and other complexities. Whether transmitted through the traditional print press, television or modern media, such headlines influence perceptions on climate change either directly, among those choosing to follow climate issues, or else passively. This perspective article acknowledges the potentially powerful role of ordinary people everywhere in driving implementation through personal, household, consumer or producer choices as models of behaviour or through the pressure this brings to bear on leaders and society at large. It looks at how this potential may be affected by the fear engendered by global headlines. Combining this with the inherent political, social, economic and other complexities of climate change, looming deadlines determined by global governance processes, and perceived absence of adequate solutions in those processes, despair can result, which disempowers, undermines agency and deters self-efficacy. Such dissemination of knowledge on the devastating social and environmental consequences of climate change, in apparent absence of adequate solutions, may therefore hinder rather than motivate the efforts and perceptions of ordinary people at grassroots level, individually and collectively, and thus stymy a significant potential driver of mitigation and adaptation implementation. The article suggests that invoking hope, empathy and shared experience in communication on climate change, rather than fear alone, can be potentially far more motivating. It concludes that disseminating stories of human triumph over climate adversities, of which there are many global examples, has the potential to educate, inspire and contribute to driving transformational change at scale, by harnessing the cumulative actions and positive influence of ordinary people, householders, consumers and business owners everywhere. It remains important, at the same time, to also convey the seriousness and realistic concerns for our climate future. This article utilises international news and other publications to illustrate the news coverage of catastrophic climate events and international climate governance processes which address the challenges. It draws upon literature including international agency and academic journal publications to look at relevant aspects of climate communication and examples of positive climate narratives. This perspective article is written from the perspective and observations of a former senior United Nations official with over 25 years’ experience on multilateral governance in sustainable development.