Despite massive amounts of renewable energy coming online, electrified transportation taking off, and trillions of dollars flowing into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds, the world continues to advance along a precipitous climate future. International emissions rose by roughly 1.1% in 2023, setting a record high of 36.8 billion metric tons. Even more startling, global warming exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for the entire year, marking the first-ever breach of this key climate indicator. The Earth’s vital signs are officially flashing red, underscoring the urgent need to accelerate climate action.
The barriers that stand in the way of a more sustainable and resilient world are no longer technical or economic but rather social and political. We have the tools needed to meet emission reduction goals — now we just need to implement them. Yet, in an age of prolific disinformation often funded and amplified by bad-faith actors (including fossil fuel companies and ethically questionable PR firms), this isn’t always straightforward. Already, a growing number of U.S. counties are restricting new renewable energy deployments, threatening to undermine the industry’s momentum at a pivotal point in history.
To overcome today’s deployment challenges, climate tech companies need to build a truly bi-partisan coalition of support that connects with people’s personal values and beliefs. Emotional resonance delivered through persuasive narratives, not academic data or political grandstanding, is what will build the climate ‘big tent’ that’s needed to deliver on climate action today.
The Value of a Narrative
From the Civil Rights era to the push for marriage equality and the more recent #MeToo movement, storytelling has played a pivotal role in driving progress on a wide range of issues. Narratives are a core part of the human social fabric, drawing on information and emotions to contextualize complex experiences, provide structure and meaning to our lives, and encode and decode information in ways that foster empathy, memorable connections, and shared understanding. They are building blocks for how we perceive and interpret the world and serve as a powerful medium to challenge perceptions, change norms, and inspire collective action.
Changing Hearts and Minds
By connecting climate action to people’s lives in a meaningful way — whether health, safety, economics, conservation, or even aesthetics — stories can reduce hostility to change, even among those who may initially be averse to it. Compelling narratives are emotional by nature and benefit from polysemous interpretations, helping them stick in people’s memories with greater impact.
Take heat pumps, one of climate tech’s unsung heroes. While an impressive heating and cooling technology that delivers efficiencies of up to 400%, technical specifications aren’t enough to convince skeptical consumers to adopt them. Instead, advocates should point to the thousands of extra dollars homeowners would have in their pockets each year to pay for things like sports and recreation, vacations, and property upgrades. Alternatively, focusing on how heat pumps protect families from potential gas or carbon monoxide leaks is also effective.
Another approach could frame solar energy paired with battery storage as a health and safety investment, ensuring air conditioning stays on in the summer and heat in the winter for maximum security. And of course, the sleek appearance of market-leading electric vehicles lend themselves to narratives of technological advancement and elevated social status.
Attitudes and perspectives on climate change are evolving with the Age of Adoption now upon us, but further consensus-building is needed if we’re to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. As a highly effective way to sway hearts and minds, conjure understanding, and counteract inertia, storytelling can accelerate climate tech adoption to win the energy transition — for everyone.