Tools- of Changes

A Broader Audience and Greater Impact: Five simple shifts for climate communication in 2026.

This paper synthesizes insights from five years of ongoing message testing and public opinion polling and provides specific guidance on how to evolve the climate narrative in a way that broadens the tent and minimizes the possibility of polarization.

The basic shifts in framing and vocabulary outlined in this guide can be valuable to anyone who’s hoping to communicate effectively about climate change with the broadest possible audiences.

The five shifts, which are expanded on in this 2026 climate change communication guide, include:

1. From morality → to materiality. Connect climate change to real-world costs people already feel—weather damage, insurance, health, and energy bills. Climate change can’t just feel like a cause. It has to feel like a cost.
2. From luxury→ to affordability. Position clean energy as the cheaper, practical choice, not a premium product.
3. From banning→ to building. Shift away from “bans” and “mandates” toward growth, standards, incentives, and choice.
4. From global→ to national & local. Tap into pride, protection, and local ownership instead of distant, abstract responsibility.
5. From massive→ to manageable. Replace overwhelming goals with achievable, step-by-step progress people believe can work.