Countering climate doom

When we decided on “silver lining” as the theme of our latest newsletter, I thought it apt to highlight positive stories about the environment to counter the deluge of bleak, and at times terrifying climate news. Yet, while I was keen to find data or visual stories on positive climate and environment trends from Asia, I could not find any.  The ones I did find from global news outlets were sombre, dominated by the Los Angeles wildfires, drastically changing climates and extreme weather events. This reflects the harsh reality of the climate crisis, but also the desire of newsrooms to garner public interest in the defining issue of our time. One could even say that reporting such news in this “doom and gloom” way might compel people to act. But is this really true?

I came across the Climate Intervention Webapp, that tracked strategies that motivate people to change their climate beliefs and behaviours. The app was based on a study of over 59,000 participants from 63 countries that showed that doom and gloom messaging was highly effective for stimulating information sharing, like resharing on social media, but had little effect on policy support and belief in climate change. Climate doomism also backfires when it comes to actions that require more effort. Responses to positive and negative messaging also vary from one country to the next, and depend on factors like education, gender, and political ideology. 

The data was fascinating, but I was still pressed to find climate stories to celebrate or be inspired by. Coming from Asia where many countries are still playing catch-up to industrialised nations in the west and pursuing economic development at the expense of the environment, I wanted to know if the region was shifting course in less visible ways, or paving new ways to transition to a more sustainable world. 

So what did I find?

Renewables are gaining ground