Why Talking About How We Feel About Climate Change Matters

By Liza Marks

In 2024, the journal Nature Climate Change published this article describing global research about people's "willingness to contribute" to climate action and their perception of how willing other people in their country were to contribute.

Here's the short version: Most people really care about climate change and are willing to make a financial sacrifice of their own resources to fight it. Most people also greatly underestimate how many of their neighbors care and are willing to contribute.

This data resonates personally for me. I spent years thinking my fears about climate change were a little bit weird and people around me probably didn't want to hear about it. But when I started really talking about it, I found lots of other people who care too. I was surrounded by people who were feeling some of the same stuff I was feeling, and they were ready to engage with me about it. When I felt less alone, I started to feel way more empowered.

The data showing us that most people care but also are walking around feeling like no one else really gets it tells us how important it is to just start talking. When we talk together, we get to share our fears, anger, and pain -- and also our passion and hope for the world we share. We stop feeling paralyzed and isolated. We start finding the ways we are already connected.

That's why just talking about it is a part of the road map to a better future. We can't get there alone.