Writing about climate change
Action-oriented writing to make the complex more clear!
At some point, you’re going to be integrating climate change policies and actions into your plans, or presenting solutions in your proposals and applications. How you write about climate change matters!
Climate change is a highly technical, science-based, emotionally-charged topic. The scientists leading the research usually present their findings in their own familiar technical and academic terms (or if we’re lucky, a science writer has explained it in everyday terms). Then it’s up to us to turn those findings into something our communities can work with – strategies, action plans, policies, guidelines, standards.
I’ve had a chance to review, write, and edit many climate-related planning documents and I think we need to make some changes to how we, as planners, write about climate change in the context of our work. The best science communicators offer great models for how to communicate in a way that is clear, understandable, and actionable.
Many scientists are embracing “plain language” writing – particularly those who want to see their work used now, by government, business, and civil society, to implement change and advance our collective progress toward the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While the experts have legitimate concerns about their research being over-simplified, there are many who are adopting plain language techniques to reach a wider audience. They see its value in illuminating and popularizing their findings and recommendations.
And, just like many planners (and lawyers, and engineers, and architects…), they have concerns that their plain language writing will be interpreted as being too casual, inexact, or unprofessional. But, research has shown that when professionals write clearly, it increases the reader’s trust. There is a feeling of transparency, that there is nothing to hide. And when it comes to something like a plan or proposal for tangible climate actions, you need to build that connection with your reader.
A current example:
Planners are really good at, well, making plans. We’re able to continually adapt and incorporate new information. Yet I often see statements like this one, from a well-intentioned local government:
To reach our targets, we will use our influence to regulate, advocate and facilitate transformation by increasing local renewable energy to contribute to a resilient, carbon-free grid.
This is the kind of statement many organizations write and share with the public. What’s wrong with it?
First, it’s a long statement with a lot of big ideas packed into it. It’s too much to take in with one pass. It may save space on a page, but it requires work to understand to pull out what each term means – and this work is not something most readers will do.
There’s a lot of ambiguity. What do they mean by “using our influence”? And why are they “advocating” if they’re in government? What does it mean to “facilitate” transformation? And what kind of transformation? It raises too many questions. It assumes a level of familiarity and interest that may not be there in the readers minds.
I’m sure the authors know exactly what they meant and wrote every word intentionally. The problem is, none of us were in the room when they did. We try to interpret the meaning and start making assumptions that the authors may not have intended. If it was written with the reader in mind (us), we wouldn’t be filling in the gaps ourselves. This is where a lot of unintended consequences of overly-complex writing can start.
When writing about climate change, it’s essential that your reader can find what they need, understand it, and then do something with it. With the statement above, I think I’m being assured that the municipality is doing something – I just don’t know exactly what it is or how it’s relevant to me.
When you come across statements like this, chances are good that you’re not the only one wondering exactly what the writers are talking about, and how you can integrate it into your work. When you’re writing statements like this, pause to consider what your reader really needs and wants.
Some writing tips:
How do you, as a planner, take the latest science and build it into your policy statements, official plans, design guidelines, proposals, and other documents?
First, get comfortable with science, ok? Many of us didn’t pursue science beyond the required high school classes. Time to start reading! There is a ton of fascinating books and articles out there. Pick one and see where it leads. You can’t work with climate change concepts and ideas without a basic understanding of it (same goes for just about any other issue you’re working on).
I always recommend reading Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a Canadian-born atmospheric scientist who has too many credentials to list here. Her popular writing provides a great example of how even the most esteemed researcher can write about climate change using clear and accessible language. (Her talks are great, too!)
Follow the leaders. Look up what your professional association is advocating. Or, if you’re into politics, look up council reports and see where the decision-making is going. If you’re into grassroots organizing, find out what local community groups are advocating for. If you want the hard data, look up the scholarship. If you want to bring in applied practices, you can find use the experiences of other jurisdictions. Get more informed about the options and what you can do in your role to advance the solutions.
Next, accept that you can’t write everything for everyone. Plain language doesn’t mean you have to write at a Grade 5 elementary level. The first step in using plain language is to identify your main reader. Don’t assume they have a strong understanding of what climate change is and what it means for planning the future of their community – even many planners are working to make sense of the implications and trying to figure out what they can do.
Think about the words you’re choosing. For instance, for a general audience, “pollution” may be more effective than “carbon emissions”. You might want to include a definition of a term, a visual element, or descriptive background to educate the reader. If you’re writing for a project partner, let’s say a memo with the environmental planning team, you can use more technical terminology.
Provide a variety of types of documents. For instance, if you’re a municipal planner, while your web page may highlight the broad vision of the city or town you work for, you can recommend or create an explainer video for your general public audience and add links to the detailed background documents for more informed or interested residents who want them. The City of London, Ontario, does a good job of this. There’s something on their page for everyone.
Be clear about what you want the reader to do with your document. Is it just for their information – to share a council vote or news on an innovative technology you’re introducing? Is it for them to do something with – like ensure a new standard is met in the proposal they’re submitting?
Finally, don’t drown the reader in facts. It sounds counter-intuitive, but you also need to appeal to people’s everyday concerns. Of course you need to have a credible foundation, but you also need to use words that make it clear why your project is relevant to them. For instance, “keeping it cool” may be better than “reducing heat island effects” or “making it easier to walk and or take the bike” may be more effective than “reducing our auto dependence”.
Here are a few suggestions for other ways of expressing some of the climate terms we often use when assuming our reader already understands the science. You’ll see that sometimes, alternatives to complex terms do take up more space. And you may not agree with my plain language “translations” – that’s ok with me. I’d love to hear what yours are.
Simpler explanations sometimes require more words – which can be just fine if they improve clarity.
Making links:
As the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit just wrapped up, I’ve been thinking about how cities are doing in contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (some progress, not enough). How do we communicate high level goals and integrate them into our work, so they translate into actual progress, even if we are working in a smaller city or community?
As planners, our thinking and practices continually evolve alongside wider societal change – to population growth, cost of living, social norms, misinformation, responses to the changing climate, and more. To be effective, we need to keep pace, understand how change impacts our communities, plan ahead, and be able to communicate what we’re doing and will do.
We have a unique role and opportunity to contribute to climate solutions. Unlike many other professionals, we get to hear first-hand from community members and reflect that back to decision-makers. We develop policies and plans that set out future directions for our communities, and that require others to act. We work with site-specific applications and have a say in how our communities take shape and adapt. By paying attention to how we communicate, we can maximize the potential of our chosen profession to have a positive impact.
Consider this:
It is possible to produce a plain language report on climate change. If you want to see a great example, check out the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Summary for All, a 15-page overview of a much larger volume of work. Some of the plain language techniques they used include:
Informative, descriptive headings and subheadings (they support scanning by providing enough information to tell us what the section is about)
Writing in the first person (they refer to “us”), making it more relatable.
Providing clear, colourful graphics, and even cartoons!
Defining terms.
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