Why our climate messaging is NOT sparking action
Learn about the two types of change!
Do you ever ask yourself why on Earth we aren’t doing more about climate change? Maybe you even get frustrated with yourself for not taking more action? It seems like an endless loop of hopelessness and despair. To get out of it, we must begin to look at how we respond to certain messaging and, more importantly, our individual and collective relationship to change!
In my Climate Optimist workshops, I love to get into the nitty-gritty of human psychology and take a shallow dive into how our brains are wired to respond to different kinds of information. Call me a psychology nerd, but I find it so fascinating to learn about human behavior! In today’s newsletter, I’ll cover the second part, which is how we react to change.
Two Types of Change
I’ve come to the realization that there are two types of change. One is what I call fear-based change and it’s the kind of change we accept when it seems like we have no other option, the “fight or flight” mode that gets triggered when our safety is at harm's risk. This kind of change is usually quite effective for triggering urgent changes in the moment, like evacuating an entire town due to a natural disaster or war. The day before, the town’s inhabitants probably have had no intention to move, but new circumstances have them in different thoughts.
That is fear-based change for you -- it’s fast, productive, and usually comes with no or very little planning involved.
The second type of change is what I call positively incentivized change. This is the change that starts from within and slowly grows into making a decision. It’s the kind of change that is not forced upon you from the outside world, but intentionally activated from within. You have experienced this kind of change when learning to play an instrument, studying for a test, or getting in shape for the summer. Some sort of incentive on the other end -- a goal -- kept motivating you to take action upon the desired change.
One is faster and somewhat forced upon you from the outside world, the other one is slower and grows with intention.
Why am I bringing these up? Because for climate action, I believe it is essential that we understand the two so that we can successfully aim for the right kind of change moving forward!
Fear-Based Change
Let’s start with fear-based change.
So far, this is the kind of change we’ve tried to trigger with our climate warnings. We want people to panic and feel like the end is near, and in doing so up-end our lives and take action. The only issue is that for most of us, climate change doesn’t evoke those feelings yet. A majority of humans still live with the perception that climate change is distant in either time or space, and therefore doesn’t appear urgent enough for fear-based change triggers to have an impact.
I’m reiterating here that we don’t ignore the necessary changes because we’re bad people who don’t care, our brains are simply not wired to respond to this kind of information with action! Unless your house was just burnt to the ground from a wildfire or unless your child died of asthma caused by air pollution, chances are you will be intimidated by the climate doom and gloom messages, but not quite willing to up-end your entire life to “save yourself.”
You need two very important things for fear-based change to work:
For one, you need an anti-goal (a threat) that feels scary and urgent to you on a personal level.
Secondly, you need clear directions or a clear idea of what to do to avoid that anti-goal. If your town is threatened by a monsoon and you’re told to evacuate, you pack your bags as fast as you can, and you leave. If a guy is pointing a gun at you and your entire body says “run”, you run. With me so far?
OK, so let’s look at climate change. Does climate change feel scary and urgent on a personal level? Again, to most of us, it doesn’t, so the sense of urgency needed to act is not there.
Secondly, do we have a clear idea of what to do to avoid it? Not really, do we? Sure, we should travel less, be more responsible with our shopping, turn off the lights whenever we can, etc… But is there ONE clear action that can launch us into the necessary change needed to get us someplace safe? No. Why? Because we simply don’t have one, and because it will take thousands if not millions of small efforts to slowly edge ourselves closer to a better world.
Simply put, the fear-based action we’re trying to trigger with our climate communication isn’t working and it’s not going to work, not until it’s too late anyways.
Now, let’s have a look at change number two.
Positively Incentivized Change
Now, this one is completely different in character. Instead of trying to avoid an anti-goal by quickly taking action, you’re slowly working toward a goal you’re trying to achieve. As mentioned earlier, this kind of change takes whole different willpower from within, and a clear incentive at the end that inspires you to keep going.
To succeed at this kind of change, you will most likely have to go through a lot of trial and error, adapting a “try, fail, and try again” mindset. Since it’s slower approaching in nature and since it will take a lot from you to keep at it, this change can’t be forced upon you from outside sources — it is essential that it’s fueled from within!
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say that your mother keeps bugging you to do your homework or else, she threatens, you will end up flipping burgers for the rest of your life. That might seem like a fair deal but unless you at some point develop a vision of a different kind of career, one that you think of as more fulfilling than flipping burgers, it can be tough to continue that hard work that studying asks of you. If all you know is that you don’t want to flip burgers but have no vision of a different life, you might reach a point where the burger joint doesn’t seem so bad after all. At least you get to listen to music and talk to people all day, what’s the pain?
Not to talk down at any burger flippers out there -- I worked as a barista for ten years and I still miss it -- but my point here is that an anti-goal is not enough for this kind of change. We need a goal at the other end that will keep fueling our commitment!
If we bring it back to climate change, the work we’re looking at here is massive. We’re not going to solve the climate crisis tomorrow, nor is it going to be an easy fix. It’s going to take decades to get this right! Most likely, it’s going to be the work of our lifetime.
So how do you keep showing up for that work? How do you find the motivation to try new things, be ready to fail, and then try again? How do you muster the willpower to leave what you know to be safe and put the necessary work down to get to someplace new?
The truth that is staring us right in the face is that we need to believe that a better world is possible! We need to create a vision so strong it will fuel our work for all the days to come!
Since the fear of a climate disaster is not enough to kick us into action, how can we instead look ahead and work for what we want, instead of trying to avoid what we don’t want?
Envisioning A Different World
The punch line with this whole newsletter is that we need to find it in us to start dreaming of and believing in an even better world! If we don’t, how will we ever find the motivation to keep going?
Here is a previous issue that helps you take a peek into what might be a better future to look forward to! I will also link my guided meditation here that helps you put you in a mindset of envisioning a better world.
It is totally OK to be afraid and worried about climate change and the future. If we weren’t we would be denying facts which is not the point. However, it is essential that we also find it in us to start believing that we can get this right because if we don’t, we will never have a chance! At least these are my thoughts by I would love to hear yours as well. Leave a comment here or always feel free to contact me for further conversations!