Not feeling heard? Well, you're not alone

Hello,

Would I be right in saying that you're doing your bit for the climate but don't feel that if you communicate with government or politicians you'll be heard (including after the latest COP)?

That's one of the findings of the survey you and 2,000 others took on climate messaging in the summer. (I apologise for the delay in sharing the results. The blame is entirely mine as I have been trying to work out what they mean in our current political context, which at times just leaves me blinking…) 

I'm deeply indebted to Professor Iain Black of Strathclyde University who has crunched these numbers and drawn out some fascinating nuggets. I've spent the past few weeks trying to put those findings in context. 

The professor found that the most common forms of action respondents are carrying to limit the impact on the environment are the following. (It's important to note that this is a self-selecting group of people who took the survey through social media contacts connected to me and the openDemocracy mailing list.):

• Respecting / protecting green spaces:   94.8% of respondents

• Cutting consumption and waste:   93.9%

• Reducing energy use:   88.5%

• Cutting back on flying:   75.9%

And the actions respondents saw as most impactful were:

• Cutting back on flying

• Cutting consumption and waste

• Reducing energy use

• Respecting / protecting green spaces

However, the things which people taking the survey thought were weakest were:

• Making your voice heard by those in power

• Talking about the changes you make

Now, it may not strike you as headline news that people don't feel politicians listen to us. However, the survey showed people did believe that government could do powerful things to help the environment. And there's the rub, respondents feel government can take real action but just isn't listening to us.

The responses showed that the top four perceived brakes on government action are vested interests, fossil-fuel lobbying, concentrated media ownership, and fossil-fuel marketing. Interestingly, this is reflected in the top two government actions that people who took the survey saw as being most powerful:

• Banning fossil fuel lobbying

• Controlling fossil fuel marketing

The government action perceived as third most powerful was the public ownership of national infrastructure (energy, electricity grid, buses, railways). There was also a strong belief in recognising ecological limits to economic growth and focus on wellbeing for all. 

Those four government actions feel very far away to me, because I share that feeling that government isn't listening. I'm also deeply concerned that important conversations get washed away by misinformation, disinformation, and division. 

I do believe we can change that. I'm going to spend some time thinking about where this project goes next in understanding people's concerns and how we can better communicate about the environment.

Thank you for reading,

Stewart Kirkpatrick

(About me)