Food for thought

More of our conversations about the climate crisis need to start by listening to what matters to people - and then exploring the things that they're concerned about.

"To be honest with you, I wouldn't mind if it was a bit warmer".

Whether you're chatting about this and that down the pub, or you're running a workshop on the climate crisis, you'll recognise this comment.

You may have said it yourself.

One of the many challenges we face when we're looking to engage people in tackling the climate crisis is that quite a lot of what gets talked about can appear a bit nebulous, and a bit removed from our day to day lives.

Whether we're talking about "parts per million", global warming, CO2, greenhouse gases or a 1.5 degree rise in average global temperatures, it's not difficult to appreciate why people often switch off.

"1.5 degrees warmer? Bring it on mate!"

Of course, the question offers the opportunity to explore why that temperature rise since 1850 is highly significant. But you've probably lost much of the room by this stage.

So what might we do instead?

Start by finding out what matters to people

For me, that’s the impact of extreme weather on the things I like to do outdoors - like running. What is it that matters most to you? What changes are you seeing?

What I Talk About When I Talk About Climate Change

Or maybe we could focus more on the impacts we're experiencing, right now, of our changing climate. Impacts on things that matter to us all - like the food that we eat.

In my lunch break today I didn't have to look far for news stories:

"The UK faces food shortages and price rises as extreme weather linked to climate breakdown causes low yields on farms locally and abroad."

"Met Office data shows that from October 2022 to March 2024, England was hit by the highest amount of rain for any 18-month period since records began in 1836."

"One major retailer said the wholesale price of potatoes was up 60% year on year as much of the crop had rotted in the ground."

"Soaring prices for cocoa beans recently hit a record $12,000 a tonne: roughly four times last year’s price."

Let's start conversations by talking more about things people can relate to. Like the impacts of all that rain over winter - and the likely implications for the price of a pint or the cost of a bag of chips. This can be a starting point for exploring much bigger impacts too.

Of course, it's also important not to get too bogged down in all the detail of the consequences of climate breakdown. That can lead to people quickly disengaging too.

But finding relatable ways to discuss what's going on - and the impacts that we're already experiencing - is really important. These conversations can provide the foundations for exploring how we work together, creatively, courageously, to change things for the better.

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Finally, one from the archive

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