Reframing the narrative around climate

With London sweltering this week, the hotter temperatures have been one of the easier conversational topics to find consensus around for those attending this year’s London Climate Action Week (LCAW). Debate and passion there was in abundance and what I heard was constructive and solutions focused. But solving the climate challenge is complex. As I listened to the big topics - from mobilising private capital to identifying new business opportunities to engaging dissenting voices in the US, a common thread emerged at several panels around how we need to refresh and reframe to show urgency.

To give some context, this year’s LCAW sees London taking centre stage when it comes to climate. Stand in line for a panel event and it’s clear the capital has attracted an international crowd. This year’s event is twice as large as the 2024 event, bringing corporates, policymakers and the environmental community together to drive progress in meeting climate goals. 

It was a privilege to be there. The SEC Newgate UK team is running or helping to facilitate multiple events during LCAW. The range of sessions reflects the scale of the task we have in tackling climate change. The panels I listened to included insights from diverse speakers such as Kate Hampton, the CEO of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, His Excellency Ali Mohammed, the Special Climate of Kenya to Sonia Dunlop, CEO of the Global Solar Council. 

So, as I sat listening to various panels, I asked myself if there were any lessons for us as advisers in how we communicate these big topics? What role is there for us in shaping narratives to mobilise the sceptics, disengaged or those whose focus is on day to day getting by? One common theme I found amongst almost all speakers - from those with a finance background to NGOs to politicians - was the need to engage by showing positivity and the opportunity this complex challenge presents. Delivery of new financing, partnerships and collaboration models requires a reframing around how sustainable models deliver for working people. 

Chairing a panel on the State of Climate Politics, Jennifer Morgan, the German Special Envoy for International Climate Action put it simply as: “Everyone needs to become a storyteller”. 

Wednesday’s panel on the Circular Economy as a Tool for Growth saw a passionate keynote from Mary Creagh, the UK’s Under Secretary of State for Nature. As the UK government puts the final touches to its Circular Economy strategy due in the autumn, she outlined how circular business models present an £18 billion opportunity for the UK economy. But new frameworks risk getting stuck without clear communication. Take a concept like the Circular Economy which might be better defined simply as “renting more, reusing more, recycling more”, many people still lack understanding about what it is. 

Communicating such complex topics and showing meaningful opportunity is critical. Karl Matheson, Senior Climate Correspondent at Politico who covered recent floods in southern Spain commented how so many of those he interviewed were getting news from TikTok rather than directly from mainstream news outlets: “We need to tell the stories of good progress,” he said. 

Even the optimists among us would not deny the challenges but the role for communicators to mobilise and energise a movement is clear. In the words of one CEO I heard this week: “We need to turn down the volume from the White House and turn up the volume of everyone else.”