Authorities agree that local weather change won’t ever be successfully addressed if unusual shoppers don’t make accountable selections. However there’s an issue: These unusual folks additionally are likely to assume their selections aren’t going to make a lot of a distinction.
To grasp when and why folks discover it laborious to make sustainable selections, climate-focused nonprofit Undertaking Drawdown is working with media and ad-tech companions to establish strategic messaging alternatives. A brand new survey, Sustainability Speaks: Breaking the Barrier of Local weather Communication, which was performed by IPG Mediabrands in partnership with ad-tech agency Teads and shared solely with Adweek, recognized actual and perceived limitations that customers face when attempting to chop again on their very own carbon emissions.
It’s the start of what Jonathan Foley, govt director at Undertaking Drawdown, hopes can be a broader effort to make use of strategic media to deal with misinformation round what common folks can do to fight local weather change, which is estimated to account for roughly 30% of potential greenhouse fuel emissions reductions. The opposite 70% should come from companies.
“Within the local weather dialog, we’re small environmental nonprofits—a bunch of scientists with small budgets—and we’re hopelessly outmatched by people who need to carry on polluting,” Foley mentioned. “It’s actually vital for us to search out good allies who can assist us perceive how higher to speak and the way higher to inform the story.”
In IPG Mediabrands and Teads, Foley believes Undertaking Drawdown has discovered these allies. The primary client survey from the group highlights the place strategic media may have the best impression, laying the groundwork for future campaigns to spur habits change that may scale back emissions. IPG may even share its findings with shoppers that need to help local weather motion by way of their media buys, highlighting the place profitability and client emission reductions align for manufacturers.
Individuals underestimate their impression
Whereas it’s true that company reductions make up the vast majority of potential emissions financial savings, way of life modifications for normal folks will make up almost a 3rd of the required cuts to total era of greenhouse gases.
However when requested how a lot of an impression folks may have on emissions discount, most survey respondents (67%) guessed that it was under 20% of the entire attainable reductions, considerably underestimating their impression. Round 1 / 4 (24%) estimated that particular person and family modifications may produce between 21% and 30% in emissions reductions.
It’s one thing {that a} 2022 United Nations local weather report highlighted in its evaluation of emissions discount alternatives. The report additionally particularly pointed to the ability that the advertising and marketing and promoting business has to sway client habits away from high-emissions consumption patterns and towards lower-emissions options.
