As climate change is no longer a faraway threat but rather a live crisis in the present, public relations campaigns become more and more critical. Converting raw climate data into meaningful and actionable global initiatives requires more than scientific reports. It almost demands that it become global storytelling, relatable, and mobilizing.
A PR campaign is the only thing that can bring the seemingly complex science of climate change to an everyday level of understanding and ignite people, corporations, and governments to take meaningful action. So, let’s find out what successful PR campaigns are doing to bring climate data to global climate action.
Making Climate Data Relatable
At its core, climate data is an abstract concept for many. While scientifically accurate, numbers, graphs, and projections often fail to resonate with people’s daily lives. Effective PR campaigns tackle this challenge by making climate data relatable.
Instead of bombarding audiences with statistics about rising sea levels, they tell stories about coastal communities losing their homes. Instead of presenting carbon dioxide measurements, they showcase how air quality improvements impact children’s health.
For example, the United Nations Climate Action campaign “Act Now” has been a masterclass in humanizing data. Its app embedded a carbon footprint tracker, allowing individuals to quantify their impact.
Also, let us illustrate this with what the scientists say about rising sea levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPCC reports that the global sea level has increased by an average of 0.21 meters in the last 130 years, beginning in 1880, and at an increasing rate; thus, it is expected to rise by 0.3 to 2 meters by the end of the century 2100.
To many, these numbers may seem so far. Of course, stories of Tuvalu or Kiribati nations that lose entire populations make it different. The latest videos depicting families fending off waters that seek to engulf their homes communicate the dangers ahead.
Visual Storytelling: The Power of Imagery
Visual storytelling is a handy tool for any PR arsenal. Combining images, videos, and infographics allows complex climate data to be reduced into easy-to-compare packages. Raw data can be tedious, but data combined with story, emotion, and talking points can evoke emotions, spark conversations, and mobilize action.
An example is NASA’s “Images of Change” initiative. NASA represents climate change through before-and-after satellite images of glaciers, forests, and urban areas.
These images are more than just scientifically credible. They are emotionally powerful. They give climate data a face so the crisis is close enough to see and touch.
For instance, National Geographic’s “Planet or Plastic?” campaign uses striking visuals to illustrate the devastating effects of plastic pollution. Combining data with emotive imagery has successfully driven large-scale behavioral change, like minimizing single-use plastics.
Collaborating with Influencers and Advocates
Today, influencers are becoming essential to amplify messages to your audience. To achieve that transformation, PR campaigns that convert climate data to action have often harnessed the power of trusted voices, such as scientists, celebrities, or grassroots activists. Instead, these people act like pipes and break down complex information into digestible, engaging bits passed downstream to their followers.
A perfect example of data becoming a movement is Greta Thunberg, rising as a global climate advocate and using social media and PR strategies to make her voice heard. Why has her ability to condense the gravity of climate science into a poetic, emotive language captivated millions to take to the streets and demand action?
Leveraging Technology for Engagement
Thanks to the digital revolution, PR campaigns can communicate with audiences in new ways. Technology permits innovative ways of connecting people to climate data through gamified apps and interactive websites.
It’s too easy to make an example of Google’s “Your Plan, Your Planet” initiative. Working in partnership with the California Academy of Sciences, this interactive tool allows users to see how their day-to-day actions affect climate change by tracking the links between every habit and climate change. By making data personal experiences, Google made abstract statistics actionable insights individuals can use to make sustainable decisions. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are also embraced as powerful PR vehicles in climate-focused practices.
Driving Policy Change Through Public Pressure
Systemic change will ultimately result in large-scale climate action. Public relations campaigns have a crucial impact on shaping public opinion and, through it, on influencing politicians. These campaigns present climate data in ways voters will understand and will apply pressure on the government and corporations to act.
For example, dynamic data on physical carbon demand can illustrate the urgent need for policy changes and highlight the economic implications of inaction. Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace have used hard-hitting data on coal’s contribution to climate change and compelling imagery of the human suffering caused by pollution in an ‘End Coal’ campaign.
Together, this data and this storytelling have helped change public opinion on renewable energy, resulting in the closure of coal plants worldwide.
Conclusion
Transforming climate data into global climate action requires as much art as science. Given the current climate crisis, the time for impactful, boundary-spanning PR campaigns bridging the gulf between science and action is as vital (or more so) as ever. These campaigns catch hearts and minds and bring together the human energy and collective effort we need to protect a sustainable future for our planet.
