Climate Communications and Human Psychology (Video)

We must acknowledge that facts alone are insufficient to augur widespread climate action. The Trump administration's disdain for facts highlight the importance of a science-based understanding of climate change. However, the Trump administration is not the biggest impediment to climate action. They are merely taking advantage of human psychology.

Narratives bassed exclusively on facts make people feel both afraid and guilty. Rather than motivating us to act fear causes apathy, avoidance and passivity.  We need messaging that is both clear and concise. We also need narratives that reflect the propensities of the human psyche.

Marketing Sustainability and the Science of Storytelling

Marketing sustainability is about telling a good story and creating an emotional experience. While it may seem like an art there is a lot of science behind good storytelling. The advantages good sustainability focused storytelling benefit both the brand and the bottom line. The goal is to invoke drama that incites emotion. Well crafted branding can arouse the kinds of emotions that call for action and encourages customers to make buying decisions. This is what all marketers try to do but it is especially important when it comes to sustainability.  The buy in that is encouraged here goes beyond taking a product to the cash, it even goes beyond the forging of a loyal bond between a product and a consumer. Sustainability focused storytelling pushes us beyond our own experience and gives us potency to act on a global problem.

The Science of Storytelling: Making Facts Matter in a Post-Factual World

A new narrative is needed to counter prevailing ignorance and augur collective behavior change. However, we will never be able to get a handle on climate change, environmental degradation and a host of other problems with facts alone. Now more than ever we need science, but it is up to the storytellers to bring it to life.

As evidenced at the ballot box, Americans and others around the world are woefully misinformed about science. There is an unwarranted deep seated mistrust of scientists. People once revered scientists and politicians once depended on science to make policy decisions. However, those days are receding and we are facing what amounts to the darkest period in modern history.

Event - GRI Global Conference 2016

The fifth GRI Global Conference will take place on May 18 - 20, 2016 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Up to 1,500 sustainability leaders from around the globe will be present to exchange leading-edge knowledge on best practices, innovations and trends that are empowering sustainable decisions and changing the world. GRI is  the globally accepted standard for enabling business, governments and other organizations to understand and communicate their impacts on critical sustainability issues.

Combating Climate Change as a Moral Imperative

The moral call to act on climate change has grown and it is resonating around the world. Morality is a powerful force that transcends politics, race, ethnicity, gender and geography. Religions are making a moral argument and faith groups around the world are calling for ambitious climate action. This morality is also inspiring them to divest their holdings from fossil fuels.

Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical is an important catalyst for religious activism in support of climate action. The science based encyclical highlights efforts to combat climate change as a moral duty and calls us to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy.

Event - Let's Talk Climate: Messages to Motivate Americans (Webinar)

This webinar will take place on Friday, November 20th, 2015. It will address research on communicating climate change and a followup discussion. This webinar will review the research findings on the most effective language to use when talking about climate change. It will focus on the messages that most effectively motivate Americans and how these messages can be used for greatest success across a broad diversity of American audiences.

Why Republican's Fear the Pope's Environmental Message

Pope Francis is on his way to the US and his position on a number of issues is at odds with the core of the GOP's platform. The historic visit will include an address to a joint session of the Republican controlled Congress on Thursday, September 24th. Francis will be the first Pontiff ever to address Congress.

Republicans have warned the pope to avoid speaking on environmental matters, some, like Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, who is himself a Catholic, have even vowed to boycott the Pope's speech.

Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is not Optional

Pope Francis has designated September 1, 2015 as the inaugural World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. The Orthodox Church has been celebrating creation care since 1989 and now the world's 1.25 billion Catholics as well as Christians of every denomination are invited to do the same. The Church of England’s lead Bishop for the environment has called on churches to support the day of prayer and the Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada has written a letter of support.

Best Practice in Sustainability Reporting and Sustainability Communications

Ethical Corporation has recently published its complimentary Annual Review on CR Reporting and Sustainability Communications. Ethical Corporation helps thousands of businesses all around the globe to be more responsible. They work with NGO's, think-tanks, academia, governments and consultancies. Their work not only benefits the wider world, it also makes good business sense for the organizations that they serve. Their efforts include work in CSR, compliance, risk and governance communities.

Event - Project NZ: Telling Good Stories

This event will take place on September 3, 2015 at AUT University in Auckland, New Zealand. While organizations are increasingly integrating sustainability into their practices, they must also be able to effectively share that information. Communicating sustainability in a compelling way affords a powerful competitive advantage. However there is a gap between sustainability initiatives and public awareness. At this conference attendees will learn how to share their sustainability stories with the general public and stakeholders.

New GRI Sustainability Reporting Tools and Resources

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is a leader in sustainability reporting and they continue to provide resources to help companies to track their performance. GRI's latest contribution is another helpful installment in this rapidly growing field. This fast moving and increasingly complex realm has seen the proliferation of a number of tools and resources to help companies rise to the challenge.

The Pope's Encyclical Opposes Fossil Fuels and Supports Renewables

The Encyclical of Pope Francis clearly states that fossil fuels are a leading cause of climate change causing emissions and as such we must reduce their use. He has called for stringent policies to restrict emissions and increased use of renewable energy.

"We know that technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels — especially coal, but also oil and, to a lesser degree, gas — needs to be progressively replaced without delay. Until greater progress is made in developing widely accessible sources of renewable energy, it is legitimate to choose the lesser of two evils or to find short-term solutions. But the international community has still not reached adequate agreements about the responsibility for paying the costs of this energy transition."

Pope Francis and COP21

While Pope Francis is not the first pope to address environmental concerns he is the first to embark on a global campaign with lofty ambitions that include influencing the outcome at COP21 later this year in Paris. Pope Benedict XVI and John Paul II, spoke about the environment and “creation”, but unlike his predecessors Pope Francis has made climate change the focus of his efforts. The recently released encyclical is highly critical of capitalism and advocates nothing short of a revolution.

It is no coincidence that the pope chose Francis of Assisi the patron saint of animals, as his namesake at the start of his papacy in 2011. The pope claimed that he shares values with the 12th century Franciscan monk.

Pope Deprives Republican Climate Deniers of Religious Support

Climate denying Republicans can no longer take refuge in religion. Those who eschew the virtues of science have been morally defrocked by the Pope's recent rejection. In the process of calling for bold environmental action, the Pope has admonished conservative critics in the U.S. and elsewhere.

The Pope squarely addressed Republican climate deniers when he said, "It must be said that some committed and prayerful Christians, with the excuse of realism and pragmatism, tend to ridicule expressions of concern for the environment.”

Pope Francis' Moral Call to Environmental Action

The new encyclical written by pope Francis may draw heavily upon science, but it is ultimately a moral call to environmental and social action. Moral and faith based advocacy of climate action is of immense benefit in reaching those who are not familiar with the merits of science. We have needed a new narrative for some time and now we are seeing the beginning of a positive narrative take shape.

The Pope's Encyclical is an Indictment of Capitalism

The recent encyclical of Pope Francis is as much about capitalism as it is about the environment. The pope clearly point to the interrelationship between unbridled capitalism and environmental degradation. His encyclical states that our economic system has importance implications for our efforts to combat climate change. We must reexamine the tenants of capitalism that give us license to abuse nature.

Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Honduras, who coordinates the Vatican’s inner council of cardinals said, “the ideology surrounding environmental issues is too tied to a capitalism that doesn’t want to stop ruining the environment because they don’t want to give up their profits."

Science Adds Weight to the Pope's Environmental Encyclical

The position of Pope Francis on the environment is premised on good science. In essence he agrees with the salient findings of the IPCC. While the Pope may not be a working scientist, he does have a "titulo" degree (between a bachelors and a masters) in chemistry and he even worked for a time as a chemist. Perhaps most importantly he regularly consults with leading scientists.

It is important to understand the amount of scientific research that went into the Pope's encyclical. For many months those who were assisting the pope and the pope himself consulted with scientific experts in their respective fields.

The Encyclical of Pope Francis Calls for Revolution

The zeal surrounding the recently released encyclical of Pope Francis is as revolutionary in modern times as the message which it conveys. In his unprecedented encyclical called "Laudato Sii", or “"Praised Be", the pope has called for a " bold cultural revolution" to tackle environmental and social problems. Pope Francis has made waves around the world with his historic call for climate action. The Pontiff addressed the need for a revolutionary change in the hearts and minds of people in terms of the way we treat the Earth and each other.

Implications of Pope Francis' Environmental Encyclical and Republican Attacks (Videos)

This first video covers a recent Yale summit which explains why the Pope's environmental encyclical matters and how it may transform the global debate. This video also provides context for the Pope's efforts from the perspectives of a multidisciplinary panel of expert. The video which follows reviews some of the conservative push-back including GOP presidential hopefuls and right wing media pundits. 

Pope's Environmental Encyclical Supports the Poor While Demanding Change from the Rich

As promised Pope Francis has released his long awaited encyclical which is called, "Laudato Si (Be Praised), On the Care of Our Common Home." The document is all people to support the poor. It is also an indictment of the rich who refuse to change their ways. The pope characterizes wealthy people as being the primary contributors to climate change and he calls for an end to consumers and greed to help avert an ecological disaster.

An encyclical is the highest level of teaching that a pope can issue. Francis has made it clear that he hopes his encyclical will influence those who are gathering for climate talks at the end of the year in Paris. It is hoped that the pope's message will make it more difficult for special interest groups to derail the work that needs to be done at COP21 where it is hoped we will secure a global climate agreement.