REPORT OUT INSIGHTS ON CLIMATE STORYTELLING

The report outlines the activities of the Climate Story Lab Nordic 2023/2024, which supported nine climate films to develop impact strategies and narratives. It argues that storytelling is a critical infrastructure for the energy transition, capable of moving beyond scientific facts to address the emotional and existential dimensions of the climate crisis. The document provides a handbook of essays from scientists, filmmakers, and practitioners, emphasizing the need to reach the 'moveable middle' of the population and the importance of centering climate justice and local contexts in narratives. It concludes by calling for a more robust 'storytelling ecosystem' that supports independent filmmakers and challenges the influence of fossil fuel industry narratives.

• Documentaries are significantly more influential than other media sources for climate information; a June 2022 report from the Reuters Institute and University of Oxford found that 39% of people pay attention to documentaries compared to 33% for major news organizations.
• The Nordic region faces specific challenges where environmental leadership conflicts with economic realities, such as Norway's dual identity as an oil producer and environmental leader, and the rise of populist parties in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland that frame climate action as 'alarmism'.
• Effective climate communication for the 'middle' population—those not yet activists but not deniers—should avoid focusing solely on climate, instead linking emission-reducing measures to everyday benefits like health, cost savings, or community improvement.
• High-impact climate action for the global top 10% of earners (those making over 38,000 USD per year) primarily involves reducing 'hypermobility'—specifically flying and driving—which are the largest sources of their overconsumption.
• To build consensus for a climate-neutral future, storytelling frameworks should ensure the future is 'emotionally true, locally relevant, and scientifically accurate', while maintaining a focus on quality of life and personal identity.
• The film industry often fails to prioritize climate content on screen, with some broadcasters and financiers avoiding 'politically sensitive' projects or claiming the topic is too abstract for audiences.
• Climate storytelling is increasingly moving toward 'ecocentric' and 'nature-centered' perspectives to counter human-centered gazes and the 'numbness' associated with nature loss.
• The fossil fuel industry invests heavily in storytelling to maintain the perception of unsustainable living as natural, which the report argues must be countered by a 'storytelling ecosystem' that supports independent, bold narratives.

APA

Galafassi, D., Dahr, J., & Haarr, A. G. G. (2024). REPORT OUT INSIGHTS ON CLIMATE STORYTELLING. Klimakultur. https://www.klimakultur.no/media/3ymgnaim/csln-handbook-publish.pdf

Chicago

Galafassi, Diego, Julia Dahr, and Anne Gerd Grimsby Haarr. REPORT OUT INSIGHTS ON CLIMATE STORYTELLING. Klimakultur, 2024. https://www.klimakultur.no/media/3ymgnaim/csln-handbook-publish.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Galafassi |first1=Diego |last2=Dahr |first2=Julia |last3=Haarr |first3=Anne Gerd Grimsby |title=REPORT OUT INSIGHTS ON CLIMATE STORYTELLING |publisher=Klimakultur |date=2024 |url=https://www.klimakultur.no/media/3ymgnaim/csln-handbook-publish.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{galafassi2024report, author = {Galafassi, Diego and Dahr, Julia and Haarr, Anne Gerd Grimsby}, title = {{REPORT OUT INSIGHTS ON CLIMATE STORYTELLING}}, institution = {Klimakultur}, year = {2024}, url = {https://www.klimakultur.no/media/3ymgnaim/csln-handbook-publish.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }