The climate crisis has become the biggest challenge of the 21st century. The scientific community concurs that global warming is advancing at an unprecedented rate and that institutional and social responses remain insufficient. Ángela Alonso-Jurnet, a researcher in the EHU’s Gureiker group, has analysed how the climate crisis is communicated across various digital media and platforms (TikTok, X, Instagram, digital journalism, etc.), and has identified effective strategies and opportunities to encourage dialogue between the scientific community, the general public and climate action activists. By way of synthesis of her most important findings the researcher is proposing Ten Opportunities for Climate Communication in the Digital Ecosystem, which brings together the most promising key points for driving forward transformative communication.

In an interconnected world overflowing with information, communication is at the heart of the climate response. Digital platforms have opened up a space for unprecedented possibilities, as they enable the spread of scientific knowledge, the building of communities, and the generation of collective narratives that transcend borders. However, this environment also poses significant challenges. Misinformation, polarisation and information fatigue can dilute essential messages, and fuel indifference.

Communicate to transform

On the basis of her study, Dr Alonso highlighted “the importance of communicating solutions and proactive content, while avoiding recourse to doom and gloom. It is very important to discuss the climate crisis not in terms of its consequences, but rather in terms of possible solutions”. The researcher also highlighted the importance of “community building, in other words, ensuring that people who consume this digital content feel that there is a community behind it, through interaction, common themes or the creation of a shared narrative”. Alonso also stressed the need to use “formats that connect with the emotions. The visual and narrative languages of the digital environment promote empathy and the engagement of the general public”.

The approach of a fair eco-social transition is gaining traction among researchers and activists: it proposes a profound reorganisation of the way we inhabit the planet, aimed at guaranteeing decent living conditions within ecological limits. “This transition requires reactivating the capacity of individuals and communities to influence their environment and actively participate in the necessary transformations. In times of climate crisis, regaining a sense of agency is key to countering the fatalism and paralysis that often accompany environmental discourse,” explained Ángela Alonso.

Alonso suggested that “a very important way of approaching this fair eco-social transition is to act on the basis of opportunities. One of the main problems today is that a large proportion of users tend to avoid news about the climate crisis because it makes them feel powerless or that they cannot contribute anything, or that it is too big a problem for their actions to help”.

Community empowerment

In this regard, the researcher supports the validity of communicating ideas relating to lifestyle. “It is a narrative with the power to mobilise and which is very appealing, especially to young members of the public,” she said. In the study conducted on TikTok, “we were pleasantly surprised to see that content offered in the form of the lifestyle narrative, which at first glance may seem superficial, such as ideas for recycling or DIY ideas, actually provoke discussion based on solutions or advice, through comments and interaction among users,” explained the EHU researcher.

“Another thing that surprised us most is that, despite the deeply worrying scenario presented by the climate crisis, the scientific community, despite everything, is always very proactive; very optimistic, even,” said the researcher. All of this prompts one to think that communication about the climate crisis “should not be limited to data alone, but should focus on solutions, by proposing ideas or suggesting actions that have been implemented in different communities, for example, with the aim of empowering the audience and making them feel that they can do their bit”, she concluded.

“Communicating in the digital age requires striking a balance between rigour and emotion, between the urgency of the message and the need for hope,” said the EHU doctor. Today more than ever, communicating climate change is not just about disseminating data; it is about constructing meaning, offering tools for understanding and action, and opening up spaces for dialogue and empathy. Social media, short videos and transmedia content can become powerful allies if used creatively and responsibly.”

Additional information

This study comes within the framework of the PhD thesis “The Coverage of the Climate Crisis in the Media and Activist Discourses of the Digital Public Sphere” (La cobertura de la crisis climática en los discursos mediáticos y activistas de la esfera pública digital) written up by Ángela Alonso-Jurnet and supervised by Ainara Larrondo-Ureta and Jordi Morales i Gras of the EHU.

The complete decalogue and its infographics are available as open resources in the Zenodo repository, where they can be freely consulted and downloaded: https://zenodo.org/records/18034677