Climate change is one of the most extensive ongoing battles societies face, as it affects the quality of life for every individual on earth. Unfortunately, current attempts at spreading awareness and inciting action are barely scratching the surface of the issue. However, public relations have a powerful tool – the written word. Through content marketing, they can affect change and hold corporations accountable for their role in climate change.
We will look at the latest findings from the UN climate report and how content marketers can do their part in responding to these dire warnings.
Key Takeaways:
- The climate is changing faster than at any other point in history, but we can still reverse some of its effects.
- Public relations professionals hold a powerful role in educating listeners and keeping corporations accountable for their part in global warming.
- Content marketing will be your key strategy for spreading awareness about climate change in your industry.
The UN Climate Report Findings are Dire
On August 9, 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released concerning findings of the earth’s current condition. The report stressed the substantial negative impact humans have on the environment and how we must change our course now if we want to keep our damage from growing beyond repair.
The Future of Climate Change
IPCC experts give readers a glimpse into what the future could hold if we continue in this current downward spiral. With just a 1.5°C increase in temperatures, the earth will see more heat waves, longer warm seasons, and shorter cold seasons. However, if there is a 2°C increase in temperatures, heat waves will hit closer to critical levels and negatively impact agriculture and health.
We will also see other increases in natural disasters, including:
- Flooding and monsoons
- Droughts
- Rising sea levels
- Thawing permafrost
- Melting glaciers and ice sheets
- Ocean acidification
However, the IPCC gives society hope by ensuring there is still time to change. For example, global temperatures could stabilize in 20 to 30 years if society reduces carbon emissions.
How Climate Change is a PR Issue
This report was the first in eight years. Since then, science has improved, allowing the experts to prove without a doubt that humanity is responsible for these startling changes in the climate.
Today, just under two-thirds of U.S. adults feel protecting the environment should be a priority in political policies. Although this rate is much higher than just ten years ago, it is far from where it should be.
Image from Pew Research Center
Why PR Firms Should Hold Corporations Accountable
Climate change’s target audience is corporations. Most greenhouse gases come from fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, and petroleum. These power sources create energy that runs factories, office buildings, and other industry activities.
The last report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency stated that the total annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions were 6,558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The following charts show the further division of carbon emissions by fuel type.
Image from U.S. Energy Information Administration
Now is the time for corporations to take accountability for their part in carbon emissions and other harmful behavior. Public relations are the face of the campaign towards more sustainable industries. They lead marketing and advertising drives to bring awareness of the issue and provide actionable solutions for businesses to adopt.
How Content Marketing Can Spread Climate Change Awareness
Here are five actionable steps your team can take to spread awareness of climate change through content marketing.
1. Remain Relevant to Your Audience
Create regular content addressing climate change so the issue remains at the forefront of everyone’s minds. While the quality of content is more important than the quantity, you still want to ensure you post new content weekly. The industry average is one to four times a week. Large corporations will even produce new content daily.
Not all your content has to be in the form of blog posts. Try out different content formats to attract unique audiences.
2. Support Your Claims
You should never fill your content with emotional fluff to move your audience to action. Once the emotional high of the article wears off, your readers will return to their regular lifestyles. However, you create lasting change by supporting your claims with facts and quality content that is memorable long after the reader leaves your page.
3. Guest Post on Other Websites
Climate change is a global threat and deserves a global response. Unfortunately, your team only has a limited reach within your targeted audience group. Nevertheless, you can make a significant impact by guest posting on other websites to spread the main message about climate change.
4. Meet Your Target Audience Where They Are
Earlier, you learned about corporations’ prominent role in climate change, making them the primary target for your awareness campaign. You already know dozens of valuable strategies for targeting your market when selling products. Those strategies also apply to sending messages about climate change to corporate leaders. Use marketing and sales strategies to target specific channels with personalized messaging that resonates with today’s corporate leaders in your industry.
5. Make Your Content Relevant
You don’t want your audience leaving your content saying, “So what?” Rather, they should be asking themselves what they can do to answer your campaign call for change. Corporations can easily get caught up in their bottom line and be blind to how climate change directly affects them. That is why your messaging needs to touch on the elements of climate change that relate to your audience.
For example, the melting of glaciers might feel distant for an executive living in a warm southern state. However, focusing on the risk factors to their supply chain will attract far more attention and generate a more significant reaction because those claims make them directly accountable for their actions.
Act Today to Secure Your Tomorrow
Are you ready to take steps towards a brighter future?
Use your platform to campaign for change among corporate leadership through strategic content.
Contact us to discuss how our content marketing services can help you advocate for change in your industry.
