How we talk about climate change can help solve the crisis.
Addressing climate change on a global scale cannot happen without effective, appropriate communication that inspires systemic action. The 51 Percent Project, founded by Institute for Global Sustainability Senior Fellow Sarah Finnie, references the growing majority of Americans who now say they are alarmed about the threat of climate change.
The 51 Percent Project identifies data-driven best practices for effective communication and leverages behavior science to provide a robust multimedia resource designed for elected leaders, universities, investors, corporations, media, and others in their efforts to explain the threat of climate change and drive exponential action.
Communication Principles → 8 Ways to Get Started
These principles are developed from peer-reviewed literature by scientific experts.
With The 51 Percent Project, the Institute for Global Sustainability provides guidance to scientists and communicators on all levels on how to most effectively communicate researching findings to influential audiences.
Researchers identified science-based principles of communication to generate broad support for climate policy.
The project includes a highly collaborative partnership model that fast-tracks large-scale solutions. It includes work with organizations such as Harvard and Princeton Universities and the Outdoor Advertising Association of America.
Project Outcomes
The Institute for Global Sustainability created a multimedia resource to help communicators raise awareness of climate change in media, advertising, corporate communication, politics, and other industries that understand the urgent requirement for systemic change.
The EARTHDAY.ORG “Restore Our Earth” advertising campaign—which originated in the U.S. with subject-matter expert Sarah Finnie, OAAA, Extra Credit Projects, and Adams Outdoor Advertising—expanded its reach across Africa for Earth Day 2021.
Insights from The 51 Percent Project and the Institute for Global Sustainability have been shared, as a founding institutional partner, with Covering Climate Now, a global journalism initiative of 460-plus news outlets with a combined audience of two billion.
Following The 51 Percent Project guidelines, Boston University College of Communication students produced the #EarthToPeople series of public service announcements (PSAs) broadcast in 157 U.S. television markets, earning approximately 88 million impressions, in partnership with Litton Entertainment, a division of Hearst Television.
Sarah Finnie has spoken widely to accelerate large-scale solutions for planetary health, including at the American Meteorological Society’s 100th annual meeting where she leveraged learnings to encourage trusted, local broadcast meteorologists to better educate viewers on the changing climate.
