The climate majority : apathy and action in an age of nationalism

The Climate Majority is the first book to investigate climate apathy, to describe how it prevents action to stop climate change and to show how it can be beaten with an approach developed for political campaigns. Leo Barasi argues that dangerous climate change will only be prevented if the majority of people—including those who aren’t environmentalists—are persuaded of the need to limit emissions. He applies his policy and campaign experience to show that politicizing climate change makes it more difficult to build consensus, particularly among people who are currently apathetic. This is one of few books to focus on public opinion and climate change and it attempts to reveal what people really think by drawing examples and evidence of from the United States, the UK, Australia, and Canada. In a time of growing nationalism in many developed countries—and right-wing negativity towards the need for meaningful action— The Climate Majority offers a new way of understanding what can be done within the system, rather than despite it. In an era of political setbacks for sustainability, we need new hope and new tools. Anyone who cares about climate change can draw on the lessons in this book to help build a climate majority. Leo Barasi is a freelance consultant on climate change policy and campaigns. He works with charities, political candidates, and private companies to help them understand and change public opinion. He writes regularly for the New Statesman , openDemocracy , and Climate Home . This book is not about the climate deniers or the climate activists. It's about apathy, about those who don't talk about global warming - the billions of people who have heard plenty about climate change and acknowledge there's a problem, but who are just not engaged enough to stimulate the change required to stop it. This is the first book to investigate climate apathy, to describe how it prevents action to stop climate change and to show how it can be beaten with an approach developed for political campaigns. Drawing on opinion polls, psychological research and examples of successful campaigns from across the globe the author asks "Who are the 'swing' voters?," "What do they think and why?" and "How can we talk about climate change in a way that will provoke action?" Preventing extreme climate change is one of the hardest tasks humans ever faced. Rising nationalism and the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement are blows to progress. But only by influencing those who have, so far, remained outside the debate will we have a chance of building a climate majority to back the measures required to avoid disaster Explores the causes of climate apathy and the ways to build a climate majority which will prevent disaster