Securing Our Future

Last week marked a full year since Ursula on De Leyen officially announced the European Clean Industrial Deal (CID). A pledge that built on the European Green Deal, the CID outlined actions across six pillars to boost EU industrial competitiveness while advancing decarbonization. The announcement formalised previous commitments, and helped stakeholders to anticipate details of the plan. 

Events in the months since – including the vote in the European Council last week to scale back company sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements – have highlighted the critical importance of clear EU-level policies in line with net zero targets. A growing gap between policy and implementation, combined with shifting geopolitical norms and financial pressures for EU member states, means that not only is the EU at risk of missing targets related to the clean industrial transition, but that the single market itself could be at risk. 

At Purpose, we worked with partners over the past year to conduct narrative research across five European countries to understand how to build trust and confidence in the Clean Industrial Deal. We prioritised audiences who felt disenfranchised from the political system, whose suspicion of climate action aligned with their suspicions of elites, and whose sense of increased precarity was directly shaping their political priorities. Alongside these groups, we looked at audiences with centre-right values.

There are country level nuances. National pride, narratives of leadership, hope for the next generation or a focus on natural beauty can help to add colour to overarching narratives, and increase their resonance in specific contexts. But beyond these, we saw a clear trend in the messaging that resonated with audiences across the continent:

1) Objectivity, security and relatability build hope

Much has been written in recent years, including by our partners at Yale, on the importance of hope for driving climate action. But what is less considered is how to convey hope, and what hope might look like in an era of uncertainty and rapid change. Our research showed that narratives that were grounded in realism and focused on creating stability were most effective at building hope. It is critical to move away from narratives that promise a utopian vision, and instead to focus on messaging that highlights the opportunity to create a more dependable, more easily understood environment.

2) Economic security is linked to energy independence

A key part of the narratives that build hope is ensuring economic security – not even necessarily growth, just a predictable and stable economic environment. The effectiveness of these narratives was particularly notable when it was tied to energy independence. Energy bills weigh on this audience – they associate their country’s energy independence with predictability, and economic safety for themselves and their families. It should be noted that there was limited support for combining defence and climate spending as a policy proposition – this recommendation focuses on the messaging to support climate policy, and particularly the Clean Industrial Deal, and not on any specific policy proposal.

3) Tangible Impact Comes With Trade-Offs

Aligned to the insight about how to build hope is a recommendation that highlights audiences’ need for policymakers and campaigners to communicate with them clearly, and to avoid building false hope. No solution is a silver bullet, and no level of investment will be without cost, but audiences feel like climate messaging tries to obscure this. It can be useful to be explicit about understanding audiences’ potential concerns and queries. Being clear about the sacrifices that will have to be made for progress shows an intention to be honest, and helps messaging to resonate with audiences who feel like they have been misled.

4) Place-based solutions resonate in other regions

It has been clear for some time that specific examples of impact can help messaging and storytelling to be more effective. However, there is often a reluctance to leverage specific impact stories because of a fear that stories from one specific context will not resonate more broadly. Our research appeared to disprove this with narratives that highlighted specific case studies performing very strongly outside of the areas in which the stories originated. Real stories that highlight the benefits to communities resonate broadly, and help to make appeals of support more compelling.

5) Everyday people are not responsible

As campaigners, it can feel natural to appeal to the collective. This often feels like the best way to build a movement and create solidarity with one another. However, particularly in the case of industrial policy, this can backfire. The most effective narratives and messages specifically held the government and the private sector accountable. People do not want to feel like they are being held responsible for the creation of systemic challenges, and do not want to feel like it is their role to fix things. They are more likely to be supportive of climate policies when it is clear that responsibility does not lie with individuals.

These results reinforce wider findings in the sector related to the urgent need to link climate policy and action with the real economy and lived experience. However, they also offer ways to approach building trust with new audiences. By articulating realistic objectives, acknowledging concerns and trade-offs, and clarifying who is responsible for action, the climate movement can build greater support for action amongst unexpected groups. It is now time to implement these findings at scale. This will involve stress-testing them in the real world by actively reaching out to new audiences, learning and adapting as we go.