Climate Crisis and Emotional Responses: Insights for Effective Communication • Energy Innovation

This briefing summarizes three recent studies on how specific emotions—such as fear, guilt, hope, and sadness—influence individual and collective support for climate policies and sustainable behaviors across the United States, Australia, and India.

• A study of U.S. adults published in PLOS Climate found that different emotions correlate with support for different policy types: guilt leads to support for "personally costly policies" (such as gasoline taxes), and hope leads to support for "proactive policies" (such as solar investments). Contrary to hypotheses, sadness and anger were also associated with support for proactive policies, while fear was linked to support for "regulatory policies" because people may see them as a way to "protect themselves from harm."
• In the PLOS Climate study, fear was identified as the emotion most strongly associated with support across all four categories of climate policy.
• Research on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia indicates that climate messages focusing on an iconic place tied to identity increase personal pro-climate behaviors, including energy reduction, even among political conservatives. However, these messages did not increase support for civic action; that only occurred when messages emphasized "collective efficacy" and were associated with negative emotions rather than positive ones.
• A study in the Indian state of Assam found that general awareness of climate and air pollution threats had little impact on electric vehicle (EV) purchase intentions. Instead, individuals who felt "personally threatened" were three times more likely to intend to buy an EV. Furthermore, knowledge regarding the efficacy of EVs in improving air quality was more influential in India than the threat assessment typically seen in Western consumers.
• The briefing concludes that effective climate communication should tailor messages to elicit specific emotions based on the desired policy outcome, use specific threats relevant to different communities, and pair threats with concrete guidance on how collective action can prevent harm.

APA

Spengeman, S. (2024). Climate Crisis and Emotional Responses: Insights for Effective Communication • Energy Innovation. Energy Innovation. https://energyinnovation.org/expert-voice/climate-crisis-and-emotional-responses-insights-for-effective-communication/

Chicago

Spengeman, Sarah. Climate Crisis and Emotional Responses: Insights for Effective Communication • Energy Innovation. Energy Innovation, 2024. https://energyinnovation.org/expert-voice/climate-crisis-and-emotional-responses-insights-for-effective-communication/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Spengeman |first1=Sarah |title=Climate Crisis and Emotional Responses: Insights for Effective Communication • Energy Innovation |publisher=Energy Innovation |date=2 July 2024 |url=https://energyinnovation.org/expert-voice/climate-crisis-and-emotional-responses-insights-for-effective-communication/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{spengeman2024climate, author = {Spengeman, Sarah}, title = {{Climate Crisis and Emotional Responses: Insights for Effective Communication • Energy Innovation}}, institution = {Energy Innovation}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://energyinnovation.org/expert-voice/climate-crisis-and-emotional-responses-insights-for-effective-communication/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }