Why climate action is only as strong as the narratives that underpin it

We live in a narrative landscape. Climate action is only as strong as the narratives that are upheld, challenged or created anew across society. That requires fresh, engaging narratives communicated through popular culture -  film, TV and novels - to model how climate action will make everyone’s lives better. Storytelling is the missing tool to unlock people’s imaginations to help them see and believe that a different future isn’t just possible; it’s preferable.

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Controlling the narrative ‍

Controlling the narrative means taking power. This is something any good politician knows, and any marketing campaign promises to deliver. Gathering in New York for Climate Week NYC 2024 this week, the climate community is increasingly aware of the importance of storytelling to accelerate climate action, and the screen industry is being welcomed with open arms as the new kid on the block. There is a lot of enthusiasm for popular culture’s role in the climate crisis, but very few organisations are able to work with what is a commercial industry going through its own transition. But getting to grips with the chokehold that the extractive fossil fuel industry has over the climate change narrative doesn't just mean telling more climate stories. It means understanding that every story, whether mentioning the climate crisis or not, is upholding, challenging or replacing these narratives.

The power of narrative

The narratives that uphold the current system––one that is driving us towards 3 or 4 degrees of global warming, rendering large parts of the world uninhabitable and life challenging for everyone––are reinforced not just through marketing, advertising and political influence, but also through popular culture.

Everytime a classic screen hero is featured against a backdrop of rugged landscapes with oil drills, we subconsciously associate heroism with oil, or jobs and prosperity with oil. From James Bond in his fast cars, to US road trip movies, popular culture has long sold the romance of the open road, freedom and independence. But reality is much less romantic. The amount of our landscapes dedicated to roads and cars has grown inexorably, as millions of people switched from public to private transport. The result: traffic congestion is a dreary fact of most commuters’ daily lives; parking shortages waste millions of hours a year; pollution, noise, health problems, pedestrian deaths and carbon emissions are all through the roof. Today, the car probably creates more drudgery and misery than freedom. Counter narratives such as train romance  - not being stuck behind a wheel you can investigate murder (Orient Express), go on grand adventures (Harry Potter) or flirt your way across a country (Before Sunrise) - or the freedom of bikes, are far less common (does it take an alien? E.T).

Our biggest challenge: people are concerned but inactive  

Right now, the climate community’s greatest challenge is how the general public feels about climate change. Last year's Edelman’s Special Report: Trust and Climate Change told us just that: "3 in 4 are worried about climate change but the majority are pessimistic about solutions." Fear based communications works to alert people to a problem, and that has worked with climate. But we need a different approach for engaging people in how we need to collectively respond to the crisis.

So, while we’ve spent decades getting people to care, those who want to keep trashing the planet for profit have weaponized those very same narratives to make people feel fearful, worried and pessimistic. This creates a deficit of pressure that is required in any change-making movement––where public opinion forces the political, social and business mandate to act. The risk we’re seeing right now is that when the public is continually fed a media diet of apocalypse and warnings while they are experiencing the relentless natural disasters and heatwaves, we risk not just ‘boiling the frog’ where this all becomes normal, but we fail to create a sense of agency.

The holding pattern of inaction

‍Given people are concerned, why aren’t they taking action?  

The answer is simple: they don’t know what to do. “It’s like standing on the floor of the ER and being screamed at to operate when you’re not a doctor,” says climate neuroscientist Dr. Kris De Meyer in his TEDxLondon Talk, ‘Why we need to change how we talk about climate change’.

Thanks to overwhelm, doom and gloom narratives, and (well-funded) disinformation campaigns, people are stuck in a holding pattern of fear and panic – unable to pathfind through the maze of obstacles and difficulties that climate action currently seems to conjure up. And this inaction leads to more inaction. The less action you take, the harder it is for people to find their place in the climate conversation. If we can’t see where we are heading, how are we expected to navigate towards it?

One of the most infuriating truths of the climate crisis is that almost all the solutions needed to address the problem are not just readily available, but are cheaper (renewables compared to fossil fuels) and will make us healthier (less pollution, meat and processed food = better health). Change is already underway, and more change is possible. But will it happen fast enough? That’s where culture can come in––society’s imagination to accelerate climate action. Particularly screen storytelling, as it has an outsized influence.

Shaping our collective imagination

Our popular culture shapes our collective imagination; our collective understanding of who we are, what we value and where we're going. Just as we look back at popular culture of the past as racist or sexist, so will we look back at this period of time as a madness of collective denial. Not reflecting the changing social norms and values in our relationship to the natural world will look out of date, and will soon render content as not relevant to audiences.

Across history, storytellers have always played a role in driving systems change. Storytellers illuminate the truth of the current system and can show us other ways of being. Crucially, they do this through our emotions, how we feel, how we identify, and not through facts. The most successful political campaigns have known this; the UK voted for Brexit on a story of betterment even when the facts showed the opposite. Trump became President because he tapped into people’s sense of anxiety and created a hopeful story. The opposition tries to fight story with fact checking. Story always wins.

Climate conscious screen stars

Luckily there is now a new wave of cinema, TV and novels being developed by a growing number of screen talent who want to tell these stories. Screenwriters, directors and acting talent are increasingly identifying as climate concerned and wanting to use their platform. The Green Rider campaign is a growing movement of screen talent including Benedict Cumberbatch, Gemma Arterton, Bella Ramsey and others. Especially the younger talent coming into the industry. More and more novelists are tackling climate change in their stories. We have just launched the first Climate Fiction Book prize in the UK and the genre is growing. TV and film commissioners and buyers are sensing a zeitgeist opportunity. Climate Spring has helped nurture and grow this movement, and is seeing a marked shift in engagement from the screen industry. We now have 40 TV and film projects in development, and some brilliant new shows emerging globally.

These aren’t simplistic ‘hope’ stories ‍

Climate stories to date have been focused on waking people up to the crisis, or exploring how we feel about the growing impacts and impending doom. Novels are increasingly exploring the interior world of eco-anxiety. These all help people feel understood, to feel seen; not alone. But climate stories can be much broader than this. People taking action on climate deserve to be depicted as part of the winning team, not just assigned to the disaster and dystopia scrapheap.

‍Stories of winning

‍In the climate community, there are so many fantastic stories of progress and change, of resilience and grit, and of pushing through the complexities, when it seemed like there was no route through. From Beyond Coal’s victory shutting down 350+ coal plants in the U.S., to the Pacific Climate Warrior’s reclamation of their agency “we aren’t drowning, we are fighting”, and the Kigali Agreement that reduced HCFs and healed the ozone: the climate movement has had so many wins. But we aren’t always good at telling these stories in ways that move people, excite people and create a sense of shared belonging.

‍How do we do this?‍

We must put aside the idea that there's a right answer or a right story or a right narrative. There’s no one thing that we need to do, and there’s no one way to do it. That’s a tension that we have to learn to sit with. Making mistakes or taking a wrong turn along the way won’t be the thing that holds us back: inaction will be.

Characters can be nuanced, complex and messy, challenging the narrative of climate purity upheld by cliches of the activist. We are all navigating through an extractive system that is exploiting people as much as the ecosystem. Climate Spring recommends three approaches to changing climate narratives:

Now: Justice – Focus on causes and accountability and the urgent challenges we’re facing today. For example, we are developing true crime stories and court room dramas that shine a line on climate justice.

Now & Next Decades – Journey – Showcase the transition and transformation unfolding over time, and how we respond as individuals and societies. For example, we are developing stories that show the change underway in different sectors with workplace comedies, in our cities and homes with cooking and home renovation shows and family dramas.

Near Future: World Building – Imagine the future we want to create, offering visions beyond dystopia. This harnesses the superpower of the screen industry, depicting exciting, beautiful, aspirational worlds on the big screen, where the story is set in a world which is more regenerative.

The climate crisis is an epic transformation story, already unfolding. We have the privilege to roll up our sleeves and contribute to shaping that future. A great climate story doesn’t have to explicitly mention the climate crisis – it can be about the journey, the causes, the solutions, the human connections made along the way, and so much more.
Using storytelling to weave together culture and climate isn’t just about making memes, or a hero saving the day, it’s about helping people see themselves in the climate movement.

Connecting culture with climate and building narratives of a future worth having is the greatest justice we can do for each other. That’s because climate action is only as strong as the narratives that surround it.

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About the authors:

Lucy Stone is the founder of Climate Spring, the global organisation funding and supporting scripted and unscripted storytelling that changes the way society sees the climate crisis. She is a leading narrative change expert and climate innovator having set up many successful organisations and initiatives. Lucy has been a leader in philanthropy, in social enterprise, advising UN organisations and governments.

Maryam Pasha helps people tell better stories about their work. She coaches philanthropists, foundations, and NGOs to help them share their ideas with the people who need to hear them. Maryam is a Curator at TED Countdown, Director and Curator at TEDxLondon, co-host of the Climate Curious podcast and part of the Climate Spring advisory board.