Communicating Earth: climate and nature communications research 2026

Beyond the echo chamber with climate and nature communications

We gathered insights from communication professionals dedicated to addressing the climate and nature crisis between December 2025 and February 2026.

Here's what they said.

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64 Climate and nature communications professionals

19 Countries

Respondents represent a diverse range of organisations: climate policy, governance and advocacy; climate justice, communities and rights; adaptation; health; clean energy; nature and biodiversity; climate finance; education and public engagement; carbon markets; low-carbon industry; and science and research.

"At a time of growing resistance and information overload, this report really resonates. It’s a good reminder that we don’t need to communicate more, we need to communicate better. More strategically, more authentically and in a way that brings together storytelling, frontline voices and real influence.

The point on video also felt very familiar. It’s often something we leave for later, assuming it’s too complex or time-consuming. But it’s a useful reminder that simple and more human storytelling can go a long way."

Cheila Almeida, Communications Lead, Rise Up for the Ocean

Research headlines

Climate and nature communicators are facing a tough situation in 2026.

Externally, the big challenges are pushback, global instability and comms “noise”.
Internally, capacity is the defining constraint.

And we're ready to rise to the challenges with positive action.

True change only comes when we take a systemic approach.
Narratives, participation, sectoral transition and policy timing must reinforce one another.
We need to move from a broad goal of generating awareness to focusing efforts on strategic narrative positioning.
That means locating community action at the heart of storytelling.

We know we can do much better.

6/10 for effectiveness with our audiences currently - room for improvement.
We might need to be broader and braver with our audience strategies - beyond funders and policy makers.
Connecting more with general public audiences could mean more stories of community action to share.
The priority communications objectives for 2026: communicate impact and reach new audiences.
Climate and nature communicators are content-generating wizards.
Conferences and events are still where it’s at.
Online events offer big communications opportunities too.
We aren’t making the most of video storytelling - time to use the tech that makes this faster, easier and affordable.
Authenticity could be a superpower in the time of “AI slop”.

Learning from each other will allow us to access the power of video to tell stories of action in the spaces where we can reach bigger and newer audiences.