# Why your climate messaging is backfiring (and what actually works) Dr. Renée Lertzman

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/climate-unf-cked-7472327/why-your-climate-messaging-is-backfiring-and-what-actually-works-dr-ren-e-lertzman
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/climate-unf-cked-7472327/why-your-climate-messaging-is-backfiring-and-what-actually-works-dr-ren-e-lertzman.md
Podcast: [Climate Unf*cked](https://stenobird.com/podcast/climate-unf-cked-7472327)
Published: 2026-01-19T11:35:00+00:00
Episode link: https://episode.flightcast.com/01KFAY81RJW7ABYNJTTEDZ7H1N.mp3
Audio file: https://episode.flightcast.com/01KFAY81RJW7ABYNJTTEDZ7H1N.mp3
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Duration seconds: 3075

## Resource

Dr. Renée Lertzman is a climate psychologist who's worked with the likes of Google, Transport for London, the White House,and WWF - and her TED Talk has been viewed over 2 million times. She trains changemakers, organisations, and businesses around the world to stop using outdated models of human behaviour and start applying what we actually know about psychology to create real, lasting change. Most of us are working from an old, outdated understanding of humans as rational, logical beings - and it's killing our effectiveness. Her work is about ditching the "yell, tell, and sell" approach and learning how to create the relational conditions where people can access the care they already have. —— This podcast is brought to you by Ecologi, the UK's most trusted climate action platform. They help businesses reduce their emissions, restore our planet and report their progress for every step of their climate journey. Check them out here: https://tinyurl.com/kfswnxth —— In this episode, we dive into: Why you can't make anyone care about climate - and the reframe that actually works: people already care, but something's getting in the way of that care The three things blocking people from acting on climate: feeling powerless, perceived conflicts with identity/heritage, and lack of safety to express vulnerability "Yell, tell, and sell" - the three dominant (and failing) approaches to climate communication: moralising and scaring people, over-educating with facts, and toxic positivity cheerleading Why motivational interviewing works: asking "what's your experience with flying?" instead of "don't you realise how bad flying is for the planet?" The Transport for London cycling campaign that showed a woman riding through a park with flowers - and why honest, gritty messaging (like s…

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## Transcript

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