Tackling the renewable energy public communication challenge

“One of the greatest challenge facing the renewable energy industry is the public and policy communication challenge.” This is what our industry CEOs repeat at each and every conference, year after year. Our industry’s top executives readily acknowledge the heavy dependence of the sector on favourable (and fair) policy frameworks, and they realise that public communication is the key policy enablement strategy. Developing high-impact communication campaigns that have the genuine potential to “move the lines” of public perception, and consequently drive the political process in a pro-renewables direction, is critical. Let us consider for a minute the initiatives that could be undertaken to achieve that goal.

Setting up a communication task-force

To some degree, there is currently a lack of leadership in the area of public communication, and setting up a new task force fully dedicated to promoting renewables among the general public on behalf of the renewables industry, has become a necessity. Ambitious public communication campaigns could be created and managed by the Task-Force, who will specifically be mandated to do so, who will be professionally equipped to do so, and who can concentrate the industry’s experience in this critical area.

It should also be tasked to recruit and train skillful spokespersons who are highly specialised in energy and environment issues. These professional communicators will have the skills and responsibility to take on repeated media engagements in the mainstream media, not limited to written opinion pieces, but on extending to television and radio. The print media do not have the monopoly of education and pedagogy. Our industry has traditionally focussed its communication efforts on the print media, although television and radio are by far the best way to talk to the greatest number of people. TV and radio have a huge influence on public opinion. It is time for the renewables industry to move into these two areas.

“In 30 seconds, can you tell us if renewable energy can replace fossil fuels tomorrow?”

TV and radio programs are always in need of experts, who bring in fresh content, as well as credibility to the journalistic word. This is a gap we need to fill, but on a television set, time is almost always in short supply. There is no room for lengthy explanations of intricate issues. TV information broadcasts are all about reactivity. We need a new generation of industry spokespeople who is ready for that.

Developing a complete narrative

The renewable energy sector wants to generate wide-spread and deep public support for renewables, but although a large majority of the population is already in favour of RE, the “intensity” of that support is still too low to put any real pressure on policy decision makers.

Although most people understand the basic value proposition of renewable energy, they still have a much harder time seeing how it constitutes the central and essential cog of the future low carbon economy. In addition, renewables are still too often perceived as inefficient, costly, and too intermittent to satisfy our energy needs by the very people that support them “by principle”.

We need to put forward what has truly been lacking in our messaging: a proper narrative.

For the last twenty years, our industry’s public communication messages have principally consisted of basic slogans rolled out on short promotional videos or other collaterals, or reports geared at correcting misconceptions about renewables. Now we need to develop what has truly been lacking in our messaging: a proper narrative.

The third-generation industrial revolution will be powered by renewables, and people need to understand how this is going to work in order to actively support and demand that change. People will adhere to an overall society project which emotionally appeals to their senses, and of which they understand the rational contours. To tell the complete story, it’s also important to take the gloves off, and expose the very stark limits of an economic and industrial model that is almost entirely dependent on fossil fuel. In that regard, we should not refrain from hitting where it hurts and expose the negative role and actions of the world’s big carbon polluters. Developing and spreading this aspect of the message is critical if we are to shake up consciences and raise the intensity of public support for renewables.

Embracing audio-visual content as our campaigns’ corner stone

On the Internet, educative audio-visual content is far more popular than the written word. In fact, average people don’t have the inclination, the time or the energy to inform themselves through the reading of complex books, reports or sometimes even articles.

Consider this for just a second: of all the communication activities that have been carried out over the last two decades to raise awareness of global warming, one campaign stands way out from the pack: Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”. It is no exaggeration to say that this movie has done more to raise climate change awareness than all other climate communication campaigns combined. The impact of this single piece of work has been extraordinary.

In reality, creating highly creative and professional audio-visual material is the only way to effectively reach the mass. If we are to make a bang and engage the general public effectively, we need to hit them with striking content presented in the form they like to consume. Videos are a powerful tool that we need to understand and learn to use to our advantage. Audio-visual content has tremendous story telling capabilities; it can take us beyond basic slogans, It’s easily consumed and shared. It’s easy to deploy worldwide.

Going forward

There has always been a broad consensus in our industry that we need to improve the general public’s perceptions and attitudes towards renewables. This all-important objective is nothing new; for years our trade associations, as well as a number of our biggest corporate players, have undertaken a wide range of communications activities aimed at achieving that very goal. But to succeed, public perception campaigns must be creative and ambitious by definition. Under-funded public awareness campaigns face severe limitations in terms of quality and reach. Significant budgets are required if we are to really move the needle. Changing people’s perceptions, attitude and behaviours takes considerable know-how, time and investment. Only broad, long lasting and professionally crafted campaigns have the potential to reach into and across societies.

In addition, we need to adapt to the rules of television if we are to carve ourselves a bigger place in this medium, and earn more exposure for our industry. Recruiting and grooming high level, media-trained energy and climate change communications experts is going to be paramount.