Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Snigdhodeb Dutta, PhD Student, Department of Biology, Concordia University
Scientists know more about climate change than ever before. So why isn’t the world moving faster to address it?
That was the question at the heart of a round table I recently moderated at Concordia University, and the answers were more practical and more urgent than many in the room expected.
The session, entitled “Communicating Climate Research to Policy and the Public,” took place on March 10 and featured Concordia professor Damon Matthews, Montréal city councillor Peter McQueen and Dominique Paquin, a climate simulation and analysis supervisor at the climate research organization Ouranos.
Their shared diagnosis: the problem is not a lack of data. It’s a failure of translating that data into a message that resonates.
As Paquin noted:
“We have enormous amounts of information on climate resilience strategies. The challenge is that this information rarely makes it into the rooms where decisions are actually made.”
During the session, participants were split into mixed groups and given a single climate finding. Their task: communicate it to three completely different audiences — policymakers, the general public and those working in operational or applied settings. The results were revealing.
Making the abstract clear
(Snigdhodeb Dutta)
McQueen said:
“Effective climate communication is not about dumbing down the science. It’s about understanding who you’re talking to and what actually matters to them.”
Nowhere was this clearer than in the skating rink example that drew an audible reaction from the room. Telling someone the global average temperature has risen by 1.2 C lands differently than telling them climate change is already shortening outdoor skating seasons across Canadian cities.
Research shows that rising winter temperatures are reducing the viability of outdoor rinks, with future projections for cities like Montréal, Toronto and Calgary pointing to fewer cold days even under optimistic low-carbon scenarios.
By presenting climate change through such examples, the abstract becomes concrete, the distant becomes local and the data becomes a loss that people can picture.
Panellists argued that framing the issue for different audiences needs to become standard practice, not an afterthought. For policymakers, the groups focused on discussing feasibility and regulatory alignment. For the public, emotional resonance and relatable stakes took over.
For operational audiences — those working in applied or technical roles, such as urban planners, engineers and municipal staff — the focus shifted to implementation and cost.
One proposal that generated discussion was embedding climate context into everyday digital information. Many of us today have smartphones that display the daily weather forecast. Rather than just displaying the current temperature and conditions, devices could also show how those readings compare to pre-industrial baselines.
Small changes in the information environment could shift how millions of people perceive climate change over time.
Engaging communities is critical
Another key issue that came up is the structural barriers that hinder effective communication. Even when climate messaging lands, it runs into algorithmic filters, media fragmentation and political resistance.
Participants pointed to carbon pricing and stronger enforcement mechanisms as examples of policies that work when the public understands and supports them. Communication and policy, in other words, are not separate challenges. Each depends on the other.
The session also pushed back against the dominance of top-down, global-level climate narratives. Real engagement and climate action, participants agreed, happens at the community level through local voices, grassroots initiatives and youth movements that give people a sense of agency rather than helplessness. Media platforms that amplify these efforts, rather than drowning them out, were seen as part of the solution.
Involving students and young people, sharing successes through local and national media and making initiatives relatable and interactive can help build broader awareness and motivate participation across communities.
Communication is part of research work
Climate researchers should not treat communication as the final step in research and start seeing it as central to the work itself. They shouldn’t just focus on sharing data, but also take part in real engagement and conversations with the general public.
The science is there. The challenge is to make it resonate. From policymakers and community leaders to students and citizens, climate action depends on telling stories that make an impact, clarify stakes and inspire action.
Only when abstract data becomes tangible — whether through a disappearing skating rink, a parched wetland or a vanishing stream — does the urgency of climate change truly hit home. And it is this kind of storytelling, grounded in both evidence and lived experiences, that may ultimately drive the action this moment demands.
Snigdhodeb Dutta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Effective storytelling can encourage climate action from policymakers and the public – https://theconversation.com/effective-storytelling-can-encourage-climate-action-from-policymakers-and-the-public-278522