4 Tips to Improve Climate Communication at COP31 and Beyond

COP31, the UN climate conference, opened Tuesday in Antalya, Türkiye, with Food Tank highlighting that food and agriculture receive less than 8 percent of global climate finance despite being powerful climate solutions. The conference occurs as exceeding the 1.5°C warming threshold is now considered all but inevitable. A new report from Potential Energy Coalition, commissioned by The Rockefeller Foundation, analyzed over 83,000 survey responses to identify four effective communication strategies: being direct about climate change consequences, emphasizing potential gains like cleaner air and healthier communities, making the issue personal through real-world impacts, and avoiding jargon such as "net zero" and "green transition." The report also suggests four approaches for telling more effective climate stories, with Food Tank urging communicators and policymakers to adopt these methods. The organization emphasizes listening to farmers, who often discuss climate change through practical concerns like unpredictable rains and declining yields rather than conference terminology.