Climate action needs communications leadership
It is the small, everyday changes that have made me truly understand the scale of climate change. Summers that arrive differently. Extreme weather events that used to feel exceptional, now feeling routine. A gradual, then sudden, recalibration of what normal looks like.
And while awareness of climate change has grown significantly, awareness alone is not driving the pace of action that the science demands. That gap between understanding the problem and changing behaviour at the scale and speed required is fundamentally a communications challenge.
Why communications leadership is at the heart of climate action
Mobilising action on climate change is arguably the most complex communications challenge of our time. It requires leaders and organisations to simultaneously:
Convey urgency without inducing paralysis
Make global systemic risk feel personally relevant
Translate long-term consequences into immediate behavioural change
Build coalitions across sectors that have different interests and different timescales
Maintain public trust through the disruptive transitions that decarbonisation requires
This is not a job for a communications team alone. It demands leadership — at organisational, sectoral and governmental level — that is willing to engage honestly with the difficulty of the challenge while making the case compellingly for change.
What good communications leadership on climate looks like
The government's launch of its clean energy mission offers a useful model. By setting an ambitious, time-bound goal around clean power, it created a narrative that was honest about what needed to change, clear about the direction of travel, and actionable for businesses and communities looking for a role to play.
This balance — urgency and agency, risk and opportunity, collective challenge and individual contribution — is the hallmark of effective climate communications. It moves beyond information-giving into the territory of genuine motivation.
For organisations beyond government, the communications challenge is equally demanding. Infrastructure developers, energy companies, housing associations, local authorities and businesses across every sector are being asked to demonstrate how their operations and strategies align with net zero commitments. The organisations that handle this well do three things consistently:
1. They lead with outcomes, not process Rather than communicating about what they are doing internally, they communicate about what will change for communities, customers and the environment. The shift from activity to impact is significant — and it is what audiences respond to.
2. They are honest about the trade-offs Climate transitions involve disruption — to supply chains, to employment, to planning and to cost. Organisations that acknowledge this honestly, while making the case for why the direction is right, build more durable trust than those who communicate only the upside.
3. They invest in dialogue, not just broadcast Particularly at a local level, where major infrastructure projects affect communities directly, the organisations that succeed are those that create genuine two-way engagement — listening as well as telling, adapting as well as leading.
The leadership imperative
The key lesson from the organisations navigating climate communications well is that it cannot be treated as a corporate responsibility add-on. It is a strategic leadership function — one that shapes reputation, stakeholder relationships and the social licence to operate.
Leaders who communicate clearly, honestly and consistently on climate — showing how their strategy connects to the broader challenge and what tangible actions are being taken — are better placed to build the trust and confidence that long-term transformation depends on.
Natalie Orringe is a leadership communications consultant with over 20 years' experience advising organisations on strategy, communications and change. She has worked with infrastructure developers, public sector bodies and regulated organisations on some of the most complex communications challenges in their sectors. She founded Strategy + Impact to bring senior communications expertise to leaders navigating significant change.
