Public Information

In 2006 I was asked to help design and implement a public communications campaign on climate change for the UK Government. ‘Tomorrow’s Climate, Today’s Challenge’ had a multi-million pound budget and was the first of its kind. Sadly it was also the last. And yet the world has become even more confusing since then. We are bombarded by fake and manipulative information and the impacts of climate change are all becoming much more visible - far more quickly than we imagined twenty years ago. We’re also facing an energy and cost of living crunch. If ever there was a time for clear, high profile public information about climate change it’s now.

In 2006 we feared that the hidden nature of the problem - greenhouse gases being everywhere but invisible - would prevent people from really getting to grips with the scale of the problem. Concentrations in the atmosphere measured in parts per million and average global temperature increases are what provide scientists with a metronome of rising concern but they didn’t translate easily to the general public. To overcome this we decided to animate sequences colouring in the gases and produced an award winning advert which aired on prime time TV. The message is still as relevant today but we also now have a positive story to tell about what has been achieved in the over the last twenty years: the quickest reduction in carbon emissions from the power sector of any country in the world. I’m glad to say that in this case the government, industry and the public have all worked together to clean up our most versatile source of energy. Alongside clear messages to the public about what they can expect to happen this achievement is an important and hopeful story that should be told.