How to talk about climate change

2022 is our last chance to save the world. We will not succeed unless we make the environmental movement mainstream. To do that, we must engage millions more people, show them what is happening and tell them the truth.

Let’s start by talking to everyone we meet about the climate crisis. If 200,000 of us discuss the climate with just five people each week, we can reach every adult in the UK in just one year.

Here is my short guide to having climate conversations.

Introduction

Disruptive protest has its place. Groups like Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain are generating debate and garnering attention — but alone they are not enough. To change the world and drive rapid systemic change, we need a vast grassroots movement. We need millions of people, all politically mobilised, all campaigning, all demanding climate action. We need to bypass the billionaire press, retake control of the narrative, and tell people the truth. We need to convert an activist movement into a potent political force.

To bridge this gap, we all need to be out on the streets, not just protesting but talking to everyone we meet about climate change. With COP26, there has never been a better time. Climate change will be in the news every day. It will be in the papers. All the World’s leaders will talk (and lie) about it. So let’s use this opportunity, our last before it is too late, and engage the public on a massive scale.

There are many ways to have climate conversations — but perhaps the easiest is spontaneous conversations with colleagues, neighbours, strangers and friends. We can stop people in the street, on the train or at work. We can mention it to cashiers and postmen. We can talk about it at dinner or by the water cooler. No preparation is required and you can start today. I do this every single day. Door-knocking and high street stalls take this further for a more organised, high impact campaign.

What will we achieve?

We won’t change every mind. The existing narrative has been drummed into people by a highly effective multi-decadal media campaign, supported by grotesque denialism and propaganda from the fossil fuel industry. If everyone nodded in agreement we’d have already won. We haven’t — we are on a journey and this is one of our first steps.

Through these climate conversations we can ensure that everybody knows the truth. We can bypass the billionaire press. We can tell people what big oil doesn’t want them to hear.

We can sow the seeds in people’s minds — when they have heard it once, they are more likely to listen the second time. They will be more likely to listen to climate stories on the news. They will be more likely to talk about climate themselves. Maybe they’ll just talk to their partner about climate change later. They will begin to wake up — even if they don’t entirely.

Most importantly, we change the narrative. The truth of climate change is rarely discussed in polite society. People talk about their long haul flights, gratuitous beef consumption or new cars. But confronting these behaviours, and discussing the deadly threat climate change poses is a faux pas. In the workplace people will discuss their holidays — but who has a conversation by the coffee machine about how our natural life support system is on the verge of collapse?

We need to change this. We need to make the environment a normal topic of discussion. We will do that by having these conversations in the street, in the park, and at their front doors.

Grassroots movements have changed the world. Huge political movements — such as that of Bernie Sanders in the US — were based on this principle of individual engagement. It can work — what have we got to lose?

Let’s talk about climate change.

How to talk about climate change

Here are my golden rules:

1. Never be confrontational. Don’t shout, don’t stress, and if they get aggressive just walk away. Stay safe out there.
2. Be polite, be courteous, be gentle.
3. Talk, don’t lecture.
4. Ask questions, listen to the answers.
5. Smile — people are naturally alert to threats, and a smile is disarming.
6. Always ask permission to have a chat.
7. Always thank them for their time — and wish them a great day.

Opening the conversation

It is always best to open a climate conversation with a question. In my experience, the single most effective opening line is:

“Hello, I’m so sorry — but could I ask you something quickly?”

This tends to pique curiosity and allows you to ask a follow up question — most people will now engage with you. I’m yet to have anyone say no to this, although many have told me to go away later!

My preferred follow up question is:

‘How worried are you about climate change?’

This question generates an immediate emotional connection — and you will immediately know where their mind goes when they hear ‘climate change’. Knowing this will help to tailor and guide your conversation.

That said, there are myriad other opening questions — here are some I’ve used:

“Can I ask if you know the temperature target under the Paris agreement?”

“Have you heard of COP26?”

“What do you think of the action our politicians are taking on climate change?”

“Do you think we are doing enough on climate change?

I’d also suggest using the situation to tailor your opener if appropriate. So if you’re by a river you might mention river pollution and the recent sewage controversy. If by a farm you might start with a question on animal agriculture. If in a rainstorm…well, you get the idea.

What to talk about

Once you’ve got them talking, it’s down to you. I can’t provide a detailed guide because every interaction is different. We are talking, not lecturing, and it’s important not to shoehorn the conversation in a way that doesn’t fit.

That said, some topics of conversation might be:

• We need to explain the scale of the crisis, what the consequences will be, and what the science really tells us.
• The actions we need to take. Most people are unaware of the scale of change needed to limit the catastrophe to come. Let’s talk about how drastically our lifestyles must change. The truth is better than making people feel comfortable. Tell it, but tell it gently.
• That our politicians can’t and won’t act — they report to their corporate masters, and have shown decades of inaction. They have failed us, and we cannot rely on them any longer.
• That climate is a complex system. Explain the concept of tipping points, feedbacks and of the technological implausibility of removing carbon later. Explain how ice melt and sea level rise is irreversible. Explain that wildlife cannot cope, even if we can.

Common myths and how to rebut them

In these conversations I have heard the following three myths again, and again, and again. I don’t know where they have come from, but somehow they have become deeply embedded in the national narrative around climate change. I suspect it is part of the media/fossil fuel denial agenda, pushing blame away from the real culprits and on to an ‘other’ that absolves people of responsibility.

What about china?

The China blame game is a pernicious myth, grounded in a racist, denialist tradition. But calling people racist won’t help here. My general response is:

• Yes, China is a large emitter, but we started the industrial revolution and have a moral obligation to lead the way in addressing its consequences.
• Britain has reduced its emissions by shifting our manufacturing abroad. 46% of our emissions are embedded in imports.
• Looking cumulatively, we are one of the biggest per capita emitters in history — because we have been emitting far longer than almost any other country.
• We can set an example to the world, and we can do the right thing. We cannot lecture others until we kerb our own emissions.
• We have to do what is right, regardless of what others do — if China still retained slavery, would we?

Read this excellent thread from George Monbiot on ‘China Syndrome’.

It’s really because of overpopulation:

Another dangerous myth — pushing the blame to families, and predominantly families in the developing world. Population growth is not the cause of climate change — more from Monbiot here. Here are some counters:

• Yes, the world is highly populated and population pressure may be exacerbating the environmental crisis. But it is not the reason for it. Fossil fuel use and animal agriculture are the cause of climate change, not the number of people. We could be net zero with the same population.
• We have to take action to reduce our emissions now. This means transforming industry, transport and agriculture. Population is a distraction.
• The greatest pressure comes from a small segment of wealthy people. In the UK the richest 1% use more emissions than the poorest 50% combined. Let’s focus on these issues — not divert the blame to families in the developing world.

Britain is a world leader in emission reduction, right?

Boris seems to have succesfully embedded this in many minds. It urgently needs rebutting:

• We have outsourced our emissions by outsourcing our manufacturing overseas. This has enabled the Government to pretend we have reduced emissions — but in reality it is just an accounting trick.
• If we were a world leader we wouldn’t be considering a new oil field in the North Sea, a new coal mine in Cumbria, or the dozens of other new fossil fuel projects — and we certainly wouldn’t be pumping our rivers full of untreated sewage.

Closing the conversation

Most conversations should simply end by you thanking people for their time, or wishing them a good day. Always end politely, always wish them well.

Sometimes you will want to ask people to help our movement. I generally ask the most engaged people to do the following:

• Discuss climate change with as many people as possible each day, challenge others, and talk widely and deeply.
• Commit to making climate a defining factor in their decisions. To ask themselves, whatever they do, ‘am I doing the right thing for the future of life on Earth?’
• Be ready to stand up for the planet, and stand against our government.

All you can do is ask. Some will say yes, some no. But we must try.

The six people you will definitely meet

To help prepare you for the conversations you’re likely to have, here is a Buzzfeed-esque list of the most common characters I have met in my climate conversations so far:

1. The climate denier. These people have heard of climate change, but they don’t think it’s real. Your odds of a successful encounter are small, and you are most likely to be abused or belittled. Don’t worry — move on. We won’t win everyone round.
2. They get it but they don’t care. A depressing number of people think they understand climate change, but don’t see it as much of a priority. They care about their own lifestyle and personal comfort more. It’s worth impressing on these people a future of food scarcity, water shortages and disastrous extreme weather. You must appeal to their self interest, explain that the super-wealthy have prepared themselves and are leaving the public to their fate. Explain a world of billions of migrants, drought and famine. They might not change their minds, but you can tell them the truth.
3. China, China, China. This is a very common conversation— I set out some useful counters earlier. Have a few climate conversations and you’ll get very good at handling this person’s arguments.
4. But I recycle. Lots of people still think caring for the planet means recycling and avoiding plastic straws. We shouldn’t belittle these goals — but we should also show the bigger picture, and how these actions are nowhere near the scale of change needed to tackle the crisis we face.
5. Those that do understand and do care — but don’t yet fully understand the scale of the crisis or the action needed. These conversations offer a real opportunity to engage and discuss. These are the new members of our movement. Take the time, bring them with us— and make friends.
6. Those that really get it. It is comforting to meet likeminded, knowledgable people who understand the disaster we face. Encourage them to have climate conversations themselves, and to involve themselves politically in the climate movement.

Good luck. Let’s get talking.