Gaby Jesson is Board Advisor at The Wilful Group.  A network of communication agencies committed to supporting climate tech innovators for a sustainable, low carbon, regenerative economy.

In this article, she shares how the rules of PR for climate tech innovators have changed completely, and businesses need to overhaul their usual strategies to achieve cut through.

According to a Deloitte report late last year, consumer attention is fading. 61% of UK respondents said they are increasingly uninterested in sustainability, and 47% believe that adopting a more sustainable lifestyle makes no difference. 

It's not just consumers dialling down sentiment. The temperature control on climate tech investment is also cooling.  

Whilst UK climate tech investment rose by about 24%, with a positive focus on AI solutions last year, global investment has been declining.  It's hard not to feel alarmed. This is a scary prospect for startups and scaleups driving innovation to transform better planetary health. 

But it's more alarming to see what’s been going wrong in our sector and the way we’ve been communicating about solutions. 

From the environment to economic health,  a narrative has infected our world of climate communications – and travelled far beyond our sector too.

Whether it's BBC broadcasting prose about saving the planet or Labour Party rhetoric, the trending tone is about brutal facts. That somehow by sharing heavy  harsh realities – it will mysteriously activate a desired audience reaction.

One that starts with understanding, moves to acceptance and ends with accountability. 

This ill-judged theory is based on a belief that if people just know the facts, we will feel better, buy better and become more ‘responsible’. It's a damaging misunderstanding that has influenced content and communications throughout business, government, and society.

The truth is that there’s zero gain in gloom. Making people feel guilty, helpless, and hopeless is a simple signal trigger to switch off. 

This type of storytelling gears up apathy, drives disconnection and ignites a flight of fear.  It's entirely counter-productive.

Whether in-house or agency. NGO, startup, or corporate, our sustainable communications sector has to swerve the prevailing convention and flip the script. 

In the early days of advertising, those Mad Men pioneers wrote the handbook for compelling communications. Campaigns engage people by selling a better now and a brighter future. An improved version of themselves, home, car or environment. According to the legendary US Creative Director, Bill Bernbach: "Good advertising does not just circulate information. It penetrates the public mind with desires and belief." 

A change in climate communications is not about being flippant, gimmicky or populist. And it's definitely not about glossing over or ignoring the facts. 

But it is an approach that doesn’t nudge or needle people with negativity. This approach starts with the most basic of truths. Your audience already knows that our planet/country/economy/ is in poor health.

It's about adopting new rules of engagement. I’m talking about re-engaging stakeholders with tactics that trigger the dopamine of hope, desire, relevance, excitement and dare I even suggest FOMO.

It’s time to share the honest truths about communications for climate organisations everywhere. We’ve created a new PR Playbook that lifts the lid on what the sustainable communications industry has to change and more importantly, how climate tech startups can master the new rules of PR. 

Here’s three honest truths to get started

Truth 1: stop shouting about saving the planet

Research shows that compassion for climate change is in decline. According to a Deloitte report late last year, 61% of UK respondents said they are increasingly uninterested in sustainability, and 47% believe that adopting a more sustainable lifestyle makes no difference. And it's not just consumers. Global investment in climate innovation is also in decline.​

PR take-aways?

1. Accept that being good for the planet is expected, so lead with a co-benefit. Focus on a relevant angle like saving customers money, driving supply chain efficiencies, or supporting a community.
2. Communicate this shift internally to make sure your people are on board and get behind the new messaging emphasis.
3. Launch the new narrative as a mini campaign that you measure and test. Ensure the content is consistent across all of your channels – website, socials, even your recruitment advertising.

Truth 2: cost matters more than crisis

Businesses are tightening their budgets, and consumer confidence remains low. The result? An ‘immediacy bias’ – where today’s costs and benefits are weighted far more heavily than long-term climate gains. To cut through this mindset, clearly, show how you're helping customers save money now. Build a proposition that withstands the most rigorous scrutiny – whether it’s in a FTSE boardroom or the middle of a Tesco aisle.

PR take-aways?

1. Maybe not every product or service IS cheaper, so find your equivalent FOMO and focus on that thing that delivers something irresistible and relevant right now.
2. Build case studies and carousels that illustrate how that value manifests for customers.
3. If it’s nuanced, find a way to bring it to life in a way busy people can quickly grasp – a video testimonial or an explainer video enriched with entertainment.
4. Engage influencers to help you land your message, especially if you don’t yet have strong customer use case testimonials.
5. Partner with adjacent brands or service providers to host a webinar/breakfast discussion about how the economics work or how the value accrues in different ways.

Truth 3: make them smile!

If we ruled the world, our Oscar would go to Samuel L Jackson x Vattenfall for the ‘Motherf***in’ Wind Farms’ video which blasted around social media in support of offshore wind. The power of humour tramples every obstacle to effective communications. Satire is a powerful PR tactic. A list actors and global advertising helps, but if you’re an NGO, ask for a freebie, you never know your luck!

PR take-aways?

1. Even though the subject matter and the message is serious, the content doesn’t have to be.
2. You don’t need a huge budget to do this well, What If? rewrote company descriptions as if scripted by an NGO to parody the sector’s overuse of jargon in favour of clear copy. A strong idea is enough to power the content and the delivery without pricey production.
3. Humour is an accelerant – people share what makes them laugh which amplifies the message still further.