Constructive Climate Conversations With Robin Webster

Communicating Climate Change

This episode features a conversation with writer, researcher, campaigner, and advisor, Robin Webster. It was recorded at the end of March 2023.

Robin, who’s been knocking around the environmental world for twenty years or so in a variety of roles, first became interested in the disconnect between political debate about climate change and how we talk about it in real life, whilst working as a campaigner for Friends of the Earth.

She went on to help start the now-mighty Carbon Brief when it began life as a climate science and energy blog, and has spent – her words, not mine – more time than is healthy, digging into the intricacies of climate policy, including as a researcher for the European Climate Foundation.

Robin worked at UK-based climate communication organisation, Climate Outreach, from 2018 to 2023, focusing on providing civil society campaigners with knowledge, tools, and research to help them engage all kinds of audiences on climate change.

At the moment she is taking a break, which she thinks everyone in this sector should do on occasion, but I caught her just before she embarked on this new chapter.

Amongst other things, Robin and I discussed the challenges associated with talking about climate change with family, friends, and others; what doing so can achieve in relation to the bigger picture; and what a good climate conversation looks like.

Additional links:

The Climate Outreach Talking Climate Handbook

Julia Steinberger's article that Robin quoted - "The kids are not OK"

Climate Outreach report on communicating climate justice with younger people across Europe is here

Climate Outreach website