How to have a conversation about climate change

Look for places where your values are already aligned.

Climate change remains one of the most controversial topics in America, with people resolutely divided along partisan battle lines. As fires rage across Australia, flame wars flicker here, too, as we struggle to engage in meaningful discourse about climate change.

But better conversations are not only possible, they’re relatively easy to bring about. The key is to change the script from the way the dialogue normally takes place.

1. Abandon the talking points

Many exchanges on climate change follow a depressingly familiar playbook. Memes, stale talking points, and insults are lobbed at all who dare disagree. This drumbeat of acrimony is all around us: in the media, among our political leaders, and within our own communities. The first step is to avoid that dead end. When you encounter a talking point, resist the urge to fire back. Instead, try to figure out what lies underneath the rhetoric.

2. Listening is an underused skill

The quickest way to strengthen your own conversational effectiveness is simple but counterintuitive: Be quiet and be curious. Ask questions, listen to the answers, and ask follow-ups. As you dig beyond the talking points, you can establish an entirely different type of conversation. Meanwhile, listening builds trust and sets the stage for deeper engagement.

3. Recognize places of agreement

Persuading someone to adopt your values and worldview is basically impossible. Instead, look for the places where your values are already aligned. This becomes easy once you pause to listen, because most of us have more in common than we realize. For example, does anyone want more pollution in the world? Is anyone in favor of being left behind in the global transition to a modern energy system? Probably not. Use this common ground to explore how we can work toward mutual goals.

4. Seek out broad perspectives

No one has all the answers. We should be vigorously debating climate change, as long as we direct the discussion to ways to confront it. Broad perspectives – from liberals and conservatives, youthful and experienced, bold and cautious – are all needed to hone enduring solutions. Invite ideas and aspirations from those who don’t see the world the way you do, and you’re likely to hash out a richer dialog than you’d have with like-minded friends.

5. Focus on immediate, common benefits

Not everyone cares about polar bears or coral reefs. Distant problems, no matter how dire, don’t feel as important as the here and now. But you don’t even have to mention climate change while having a conversation about solving it. Instead, talk about reducing pollution, improving public health, maximizing energy efficiency and leveraging American competitiveness. Those are fairly universal values that win easy support.

6. Learn as much as you can

If someone incorrectly claims that volcanoes pump out more CO2 than humans do, you don’t need to get mad. Instead, leverage the misconception as an opening to talk about how the scale of human pollution overwhelms the pace of natural processes. The more you know, the easier it is to keep things productive, and the less likely you’ll get defensive.

7. Accept problems to solve them

A small segment of the population insists that climate change is not a problem, or that there is no need to change our century-old ways of generating energy. Those positions are untenable, and people who have dug in their heels have unfortunately guaranteed their own irrelevance. If you want to be heard, bring your ideas and concerns to the table, listen more than you speak, and then you’ll have a better chance at becoming part of the conversation.