Rethinking Climate Communications Post 2024 Elections

Guest Author: Kristina Lauš
11th April 2025 12 min read

About the author

Kristina Lauš prepared this article for a CIPR Professional PR Diploma assignment while studying with PR Academy.

Image: Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Image: Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

With elections in more than 70 democracies around the globe, 2024 marked significant political shifts that will impact the future of climate action. After the 2024 European Parliament election, climate action seems to have fallen lower on the list of priorities of the EU leadership, and the far-right has grown significant influence. While these shifts coincide with the newest warning from the scientific community of climate change ‘rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable future for all,’ climate advocates in the public and civic sector in the EU are challenged to rethink their approach.

A shift in the sentiment

A sentiment of action around climate change marked the beginning of the EU’s last mandate in 2019. European youth gathered around climate protests that turned into a global movement. At the same time, the EU declared climate action as its priority through the European Green Deal, a policy initiative set to guide its climate action towards net zero emissions by 2050. After the 2024 election, the atmosphere is somewhat different.

Far-right representatives have hit an all-time high in the European Parliament, growing to almost a quarter of the seats. This shift is important because far-right parties mostly oppose and/or are reframing narratives around climate action. They often capitalize on growing concerns about the costs of living among citizens by presenting climate action as an expensive and elitist agenda that does not consider ordinary people’s struggles. Such populist approach to climate action challenges climate communications based on scientific consensus and contributes to polarization around climate action.

The EU leadership has streamlined the Green Deal in its agenda for the new mandate under the economic and quality of life priorities and strongly focused on the issues of competitiveness and security. This shift is potentially strategic to safeguard Green Deal’s further implementation within new political circumstances. However, with competing priorities and opposing political tides, it is expected to face hardships in maximizing the impact of its implementation.

The EU depends on global political shifts as part of the more extensive international efforts to tackle the climate crisis. A significant change in 2024 was the reelection of Donald Trump as the president of the US. Trump is expected to backtrack US climate action, including withdrawing again from the Paris Climate Agreement. That will likely weaken the global climate leadership and put more pressure to lead climate action on the EU, which will be particularly challenging considering the EU’s competing priorities.

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Where to start

As a global challenge, climate change requires joint efforts and support of people of different backgrounds, needs, and interests. Recent research conducted in collaboration with policymakers, local authorities, charities, businesses, and community groups in the UK warns that ‘individual behaviors and new technologies alone will not get us to where we need to be’ and that we need a society-wide action that puts ‘people at the center of climate action.’ Communication is vital in making that happen.

Communication disciplines such as public relations and public affairs are critical tools of climate advocates, from navigating growing polarization around climate action to addressing citizens’ concerns and enticing climate leadership. In the context of these challenges, we will look at audience, narrative, and resources as essential elements of a communications plan that can be starting points for climate advocates rethinking their approach to climate communications.

AUDIENCE

Regarding climate change as a global matter concerning every citizen, it is easy to get trapped in a unified approach when trying to motivate people to support climate action. However, public relations scholars warn that, in planning public relations, there is no such thing as the general public, and climate change is no exception. Every organization has to define which audience they will focus on and then identify their unique needs and interests.

In the case of citizens, it is essential to understand how people living in different regions and of different socio-economic circumstances are experiencing climate change differently, as well as their general sentiment towards climate action. The Annual Climate Survey conducted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2024 found that more than 80 % of Europeans support climate adaptation measures and see it as an economic opportunity. However, the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) warns that Europeans’ support for climate action does not necessarily mean the EU institutions should prioritize the Green Deal. Their polling has shown that the latter would lose support in hypothetical trade-offs between low energy prices and climate action. As an example, we have witnessed farmers in the EU revolting against various climate policies affecting agriculture.

Climate action has a lot of support, but it is still conditional and, as such, requires good care. A segmented approach to climate communications that considers diversity in experiencing climate change should help navigate that and maintain ambition and consistency of climate action.

Another thing to consider is how to approach the far-right. Public affairs scholars Stuart Thompson and Steve John advise defining a stakeholder as an advocate, supporter, neutral, critic, or blocker. That starting point can inspire and guide further actions towards them. The right is a spectrum, and there are different viewpoints towards climate action on that spectrum. Understanding various political options on the right can help identify stakeholders who are more inclined to support climate action.

NARRATIVE

Narratives help us understand new events, particularly those that are challenging. We should utilize a good understanding of a target audience to develop a narrative that will help them accept climate action in their specific context. Along with exploring audience-specific narratives, keeping track of the dominant ones in the public debate is essential. For example, farmers’ protests put the economic aspect of climate action in the spotlight.

Research about strategies that are most likely to motivate changes in people’s beliefs and behaviors on climate has shown that enticing negative emotions through bad news was highly effective when it comes to low-effort behaviors, like sharing information through social media. At the same time, it failed to motivate high-level efforts like tree planting. It also could not motivate policy support among participants with initially low climate beliefs.

When discussing climate change, it would be deceptive not to talk about the negative, but solely enticing fear is not enough. The extended parallel process model (EPPM) developed by communications scholar Kim Witter argues that to be effective, we should include arguments showing how the audience is susceptible to it and messages on how to combat it in a manageable way in their specific circumstances. Following that, research on climate change in the UK informs that the support for climate action is more potent if the action is fair, retains freedom of choice, delivers non-environmental co-benefits, and has proper government support. It also informs that ‘low-carbon choices should be practical, convenient, cheap and socially acceptable.’ At the same time, ‘initiatives should connect with things people already care about (e.g., being healthy, looking after family) and coincide with moments at which people are particularly open to change (e.g., when moving house or having a child).’ Once again, we can see that in the example of farmers’ protests. Farmers have become resistant to climate action because of its effect on their economic situation.

In a world facing several crises at once, it is unsurprising that people don’t feel encouraged by fear, especially when they witness recurring bad events. Mindful balancing between warnings and creating a positive tone around climate action can help people feel hopeful, not alone, and more inclined to act.

RESOURCES

With new technologies and trends, and exposure to threats such as disinformation and misinformation, working in the communications domain can feel like a whirlwind. It also asks for constant attention, particularly in a political environment. Not all climate advocates can keep up with that, particularly in small nonprofit organizations often on the frontlines of climate action. In many of these organizations, small teams with a limited budget handle public relations and public affairs, while the nonprofit sector, in general, tends to be prone to burnout. That is why ensuring ambitions match resources is particularly important in keeping climate efforts going.

Becoming a part of a broader, intersectional climate action network can help grow internal resources and capacities. Many nonprofit organizations are well integrated into their national or international community, including organizations working on diverse social and environmental issues. Aside from helping with resources, growing an intersectional network of climate action organizations can help communicate the complexity of the climate crisis and contribute to more decisive climate leadership.

Towards a sustainable action

Thomson and John point out that ‘revisiting our ideas and making alterations are among the most important parts in building and maintaining a campaign.’ That is particularly true in climate communications because climate action demands quick adaptation to a changing political landscape. Often, changing only one aspect of our communications approach can lead to better results.

Keeping that in mind, in this article, we have revisited the aspects of the target audience, narrative, and resources that are among the essential elements of communications planning but are also relevant in the context of current climate action challenges in the EU. Growing polarization around climate action signals us to rethink how we bring people around climate action and how we can strengthen climate leadership. In that sense, narratives are critical, and how we model them to address the concerns of different target audiences. At the same time, changes ask us to reassess our resources, particularly in sectors prone to burnout, such as the nonprofit sector. Reassessing our resources in climate communications will make climate action sustainable and not lose momentum during this decade, which was defined as vital in preventing ‘irreversible damage from climate change.’

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Kristina reflects on her studies for the CIPR Professional PR Diploma with PR Academy

For you, what do you see as the key benefits of having the PR Diploma qualification?

I think it provides a very holistic insight into PR as a profession, its complexities and professional standards, which, at least for me, resulted in a lot of reflection, a sense of grounding and, finally, pride in the work that I am doing. Consequently, it also impacted my confidence as a professional in this field for the better. This qualification is a great choice for those with experience in PR but without a formal academic background in the field, as it bridges that gap effectively.

What has been your favourite part of the CIPR PR Diploma course so far?

The assignments. I think the assignments are brilliantly thought out. Each assignment reflected very realistic situations in everyday work, and at the same time provided some new ideas on how to approach these situations. Also, the assignments were complex and demanding so to do them it required a lot of effort which resulted in a lot of learning.

Have you yet been able to apply any of the learning, and if so, how?

Yes, for example, I used the Unit 1 content and assignment to develop an advocacy campaign strategy, applying frameworks such as PESTEL and the Power/Interest matrix, which resulted in shaping a very structured and strategic approach.

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References