Fwd: New short report: Research-backed insights for local governments to take climate action

[Loretta Lohman]

View this email in your browser Dear Friends,  Due to the current U.S. federal climate landscape, there’s never been a stronger need for local governments to make progress on climate change. In response, we are pleased to announce the publication of our latest short report, “How Local Governments Can Use Communication to Drive Climate Action.”  Key Takeaways The majority of constituents want local government climate action - 56% of registered voters want local government officials to do more to address climate change. With a duty to serve the public, local governments are well positioned to listen and respond — and the Yale Climate Opinion Maps include city- and county-level public opinion data to support your efforts. Know your audience and foster trust - To motivate climate action, governments must understand their communities and become trusted partners. Short surveys, message testing, and in-person engagement can help local governments understand what messages resonate and what issues are a priority for their audience. To build and retain trust, partnerships with community-based organizations, transparency, and frequent engagement are essential. Make climate action local - Many perceive climate change as a problem that is distant in time and space. Local governments can communicate local stories and social norms to help community members understand how climate change is impacting their community now — and that their neighbors are worried about it and taking action, even if they aren’t talking about it.  Advance climate justice & equity - Black and Latino communities are more likely to be Alarmed about climate change. Local governments can use partnerships and storytelling to encourage historically underrepresented communities to engage in climate action. Developed in collaboration with local governments and organizations that support them, the piece highlights the ways in which local governments are uniquely positioned to make progress on climate change. It then illustrates case studies from cities across the United States. For example: The City of Ann Arbor used YPCCC tools like the Yale Climate Opinion Maps and the Six Americas Super Short Survey to survey and understand their community. The results helped city leaders understand what policies had support and how to engage their community members. The City of Dallas identified key messengers and established partnerships with those that are already trusted by the community to collect energy use data to improve solar installation assistance programs and to support sustainable urban forestry.  The San Francisco Department of the Environment advanced climate justice and equity by creating an inclusive climate communication strategy to engage community members who have been historically hard to reach. For instance, when they ran a toxics reduction campaign targeting Chinese community members, they planned a launch aligned with the Chinese New Year. Woven throughout the report are insights from our research that underscore the efficacy of these approaches and offer tools that can support local governments — especially when resources are slim. Read on for insights about local research, storytelling resources, and to learn from other local governments about how to advance action on climate change. You can read the short report on our website.  Further Reading from Yale Climate Connections State and local governments seeking climate change ‘solutions’ have plenty of options Can states and cities lead on climate under Trump? Canadian city invites neighbors to tackle climate change together For media inquiries, please contact Emily Richards and Michaela Hobbs. For partnership inquiries, please contact Mallika Talwar. As always, thanks for your interest and support of our work! Cheers, Tony ----- Anthony Leiserowitz, Ph.D. JoshAni-TomKat Professor of Climate Communication Director, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication Yale School of the Environment (203) 432-4865 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyleiserowitz/ Bluesky: @yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social climatecommunication.yale.edu yaleclimateconnections.org Forward to a Friend Donate to YPCCC You are receiving this email because you expressed interest in our work and gave us your address. Our mailing address is: Yale School of the Environment 195 Prospect Street New Haven, CT 06511 USA update email address or subscription preferences | unsubscribe from this list | view email in browser