Article by Melanie Malsch and Emily Bohr, Fairfax County’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination
(Posted 2024 December)
With holiday season here, family gatherings are the perfect time to turn spirited debates into enlightening discussions. Climate change is a complex subject that brings up mixed feelings for many – fear, frustration, fatigue – which is why there is a whole professional field dedicated to communicating the science behind it and the solutions ahead. But it doesn’t have to be a taboo topic.
Fairfax County’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination suggests some tips and advice to help you transform your climate conversations from feeling like a sensitive subject to becoming a chance to inspire action among your family, friends, neighbors, and beyond.
Know your audience. Try to avoid the urge to double down on a one-size-fits-all argument about the threat of climate change and the need for action. Consider some of the arguments below:
- Earth’s climate is getting warmer
- Climate change is caused by humans
- The government and we all need to do something about climate change
There are many reasons these statements may not resonate with your friends and family members as much as they do with you. They sound like they assign blame and can feel critical, or present problems too big for any one person to solve, which feels scary. Knowing your audience can help you reconnect them to the important messages. Try to avoid making quick judgments and writing off their views entirely. Depending on their life experiences, different aspects of climate action may appeal more than others, you just have to find what they could be!
Look for common ground. There are myriads of ways we all benefit from taking action – emphasize those! Focusing on the positives that come with climate action, rather than the doom and gloom, is an effective way to go from contentious to consensus.
Now consider these values:
- We all want to protect our homes and communities.
- We all want our children and grandchildren to be safe, healthy, and happy.
- We all want to save money over the long term.
Notice how none of these use the term “climate change” – it affects so many areas of our lives that we can talk about problems and solutions without even saying the words! Whether this is your first time digging into this subject with someone or your 99th time, starting with common ground can lead you to achieve small climate-related wins that you may not have expected.
Keep it positive. To clarify, we don’t mean the sunshiny, pie-in-the-sky positivity or trivializing the climate crisis. What we’re referring to is a climate communication technique studied by social scientists that reframes climate action in a different light.
Think of the advice you’ve heard about living more sustainably. Does it sound like the following?
- Eat less meat.
- Stop producing so much waste.
This advice can make people feel like they are being told what to do and people usually don’t react well to constantly hearing what they are doing wrong. Consider the positive versions of each of those actions:
- Eat more plants.
- Repair and repurpose items.
The second set can make the changes sound more positive and more convenient and less like a wrongdoing and a burden.
We could all add something positive to our daily lives, and perhaps through your holiday conversations, you’ll have inspired one more person to contribute to the collective climate effort. We hope that these tips will help you have meaningful conversations and build consensus on solutions for the climate crisis!
For more tips, visit the Climate Matters Blog at FairfaxCounty.gov/environment-energy-coordination/climate-matters/climate-conversations.
This article is part of the Golden Gazette monthly newsletter which covers a variety of topics and community news concerning older adults and caregivers in Fairfax County. Are you new to the Golden Gazette? Don’t miss out on future newsletters! Subscribe to get the electronic or free printed version mailed to you. Have a suggestion for a topic? Share it in an email or call 703-324-GOLD (4653).