How to talk about climate change so that people actually listen

Last week UCD Earth Institute hosted British environmental campaigner George Marshall (pictured above) who gave the talk, 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏.

George is the founder of Climate Outreach and author of 𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕: 𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑾𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝒈𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑪𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆. His talk, which launched the UCD Climate Fellows 2025 programme, was followed by a panel discussion with Dr Orla Kellyand Dr Shane Mc Guinness, chaired by Dr Cara Augustenborg.

Some cliff notes from the event:

* Climate change is the biggest fiscal exposure Ireland will face in the coming years.
* Face-to-face conversations will become increasingly important in a world dominated by artificial intelligence.
* Conversations are how we make sense of the world (psychologists call it anchoring).
* Interactions with peers and trusted individuals are more persuasive than scientific evidence alone.
* Do not underestimate your own power to influence people around you.
* Often the most interesting people to learn from are the people you don’t agree with.
* Older people, men and conservatives are more sceptical about climate change.
* Choose your battles. If someone won’t listen to you, refer them to sources you think will resonate with them.
* Tailor messages to suit people’s different value systems.
* Meet people where they are - schools, community halls, the pub.
* Silence is a big threat to climate action. The amount of talk about climate change is disproportionate to its importance.
* The climate denial industry is interested in creating ‘sticky stories’ - deliberately generated ‘viral’ disinformation.
* Inspirational true stories can be sticky too.
* Disaggregate 'climate change'; use words like trees, water, meat, diary, people, nature instead.
* The government needs to invest more in adaptation preparation, enabled by face-to-face conversations with communities.
* Everyone has something to contribute to climate action. Keep in mind the words ‘contribute’ and ‘fairness’.
* Religion will “absolutely bloom” over the next twenty years as people try to make sense of a world in crisis.