He said: \u201cClimate cuts across the core concerns of voters, whatever their politics: [affecting] family health, community safety and economic stability; affordable food and available water; jobs, business costs and household bills.\u201d<\/p>\n
In policy terms, there are two ways to lessen the impact: climate mitigation and climate adaptation. Mitigation involves reducing the emissions causing global heating, while adaptation is about responding to its impacts. For climate experts and policymakers, the distinction is important.<\/p>\n
But recent research<\/a> conducted by Climate Outreach, a charity specialising in climate communication research, found that people in the UK do not generally divide climate action into these two categories. \u201cPeople talk about them interchangeably,\u201d said Chris Pollard, a senior researcher at Climate Outreach. Only about half of those in the study understood the term \u201cclimate adaptation\u201d.<\/p>\n However, the mixed response to the government-issued \u201csevere alert\u201d<\/a> to wildfire risk in mid-August highlighted the need for clearer communication on both. While some recipients of the notification decried the top-down \u201coverreach\u201d, others complained the government should instead be focusing on decarbonising the energy grid.<\/p>\n As the impacts of the climate crisis become more immediate, the question is not only whether people understand the difference, but whether their understanding leads to action and support for policies that tackle both.<\/p>\n Smoke rises from wildfires near Dunwich Heath in Suffolk. Photograph: Tolga Akmen\/EPA<\/p>\n \u201cWhat people are wanting is: what works, and how they do it,\u201d said Rowena Hill, a professor of resilience, emergencies and disaster science at Nottingham Trent University.<\/p>\n But there is a fine line to tread when it comes to responsibility. The recent \u00a375m Let\u2019s Save Water campaign, which advised people to treat water as a precious resource and cut their daily use by 28 litres, prompted questions<\/a> about whether this put too much responsibility on consumers, given that a huge contributor to water loss is ageing infrastructure<\/a> and a lack of investment in the water system.<\/p>\n \u201cEmpowerment is really hindered because of that lack of clear accountability,\u201d Hill said. The \u201cyou are responsible\u201d needed to become \u201cwe are responsible\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n And how do you make sure that people trust the message? Accountability matters, but confidence in political institutions is low, with research<\/a> suggesting that elected representatives misperceive public support for climate policies<\/a>. More than a third of Britons surveyed by Ipsos<\/a> this summer said the Labour government had done a \u201cbad job\u201d dealing with the climate crisis since coming into power in July 2024.<\/p>\n Trust also comes from making climate risks relevant to people\u2019s lives. \u201cIt is about the community understanding the community\u2019s risks, rather than the community understanding how they might fit into this really big geography of a risk analysis,\u201d Hill said. \u201cThe value of our environmental surroundings, how people use that and what that means to the local community is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n The response to the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree<\/a> offers one example: the grief and anger that followed demonstrated people\u2019s strong connection<\/a> to their immediate environment.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Down to Earth<\/p>\n The planet’s most important stories. Get all the week’s environment news – the good, the bad and the essential<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The Sycamore Gap tree in 2008. Photograph: Murdo Macleod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Climate Outreach uses the seven British segments produced by More in Common<\/a> to understand how people\u2019s values differ, and where messages can resonate across groups. As Pollock puts it, messaging should focus on \u201cthings that cut across values\u201d using framings that \u201cappeal to as many people as possible and do not alienate\u201d.<\/p>\n In a time of culture wars, this advice is not just theoretical. Greener Henley, a climate and nature-based action charity, is using it. \u201cWe\u2019re appealing to people across the political spectrum,\u201d said Kate Oldridge, the charity\u2019s executive director. The charity used research on the segmentation of the local community to tailor its pledges, inviting people to commit to simple, practical actions that are \u201cvery relevant to people\u2019s lives\u201d.<\/p>\n Oldbridge said this approach could drive tangible change beyond the community. \u201cIt also serves to inspire by demonstrating to policymakers that here\u2019s a community that can do something really amazing,\u201d she said. For example, the charity is working with schools to implement climate action plans<\/a> recommended by the government, including offering practical help to keep classrooms cool in summer and better defend playgrounds against flooding.<\/p>\n For the volunteers, taking part provides a sense of hope and collective purpose. Oldbridge said: \u201cThey see that there\u2019s a problem. They want to do something, but it also brings them joy to get out there and do something. It makes them feel more hopeful, more inspired.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel massively supported and our anxiety alleviated by the fact that we\u2019re actually doing this work and doing it with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wildfires, excess deaths, hosepipe bans, school closures: this summer many British people have experienced the often devastating effects…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622452,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-622451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622451\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789218251_539_500.jpg\")
<\/p>\n