This handbook from Climate Outreach aims to help Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change authors, and the wider scientific community, effectively communicate about climate issues. It was commissioned by the IPCC (WG1 Technical Support Unit) to produce an evidence-based, practical communication tool tailored to close the gap between science and practice.
6 Principles of Communicating Climate Change:
1. Be a Confidant Communicator -What drives peoples trust in scientists isn’t your expertise it’s your ability to authenticate your voice.
2. Talk About Real World and Not Abstract Ideas – climate change metrics and analytics can feel distant from people’s everyday lives. Start your conversations on common ground.
3. Connect with What Matters to Your Audience – Facts are necessary to support discussions but are not sufficient to engage people. Connect with what your audience cares about and what/who is affected by climate change.
4. Tell a Human Story – How the faces behind the stories of those impacted by climate change. Try to share your story, who are you and why do you do the work that you do?
5. Lead with What You Know – Uncertainty is a part of climate science and research; start discussions with what you know instead of the unknown.
6. Use the Most Effective Visual Communication – Move beyond images of melted glaciers to images of people affected by and responding to climate change
