Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Commentary
  • Published:

A unified narrative for climate change

Nature Climate Change volume 5, pages 971–973 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

There is a significant 'action gap' between what scientists argue is necessary to prevent potentially dangerous climate change and what the government and public are doing. A coherent strategic narrative is key to making meaningful progress.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Black, R. Nature Clim. Change 5, 282–284 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Painter, J. Nature Clim. Change 5, 286–288 (2015).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Roelfsema, M. et al. Energ. Policy 67, 781–796 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Fisher, W. R. Commun. Monogr. 51, 1–22 (1984).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Taleb, N. N. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Penguin, 2008).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Riessman, C. K. Narrative Analysis (Sage, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Salmon, C. Storytelling: Bewitching the Modern Mind (Verso Books, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Goldstein, J. Ideas and Foreign Policy: Beliefs, Institutions, and Political Change (Cornell Univ. Press, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Miskimmon, A., Loughlin, B. O. & Roselle, L. Forging the World: Strategic Narratives and International Relations (Centre for European Politics, New Political Communications Unit, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Simpson, E. War From the Ground Up: Twenty-First Century Combat as Politics (Hurst, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Aristotle The Art of Rhetoric (HarperCollins, 2012).

  12. Ringsmose, J. & Børgesen, B. K. Eur. Secur. 20, 505–528 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Archetti, C. Understanding Terrorism in the Age of Global Media: A Communication Approach (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. O'Neill, S. & Nicholson-Cole, S. Sci. Commun. 30, 355–379 (2009).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Moser, S. C. & Dilling, L. Environment 46, 32–46 (2004).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Caldecott, B. in From Hot Air to Happy Endings: How to Inspire Public Support for a Low Carbon Society (eds Rowley, S. & Phillips, R.) 32–35 (Green Alliance, 2010).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Whitmarsh, L., Seyfang, G. & O'Neill, S. Glob. Environ. Chang. 21, 56–65 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Nisbet, M. C. WIREs Clim. Chang. 5, 809–823 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Simon Bushell is an alumnus of the Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK,

    Simon Bushell

  2. Thomas Colley is in the Department of War Studies, King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, UK,

    Thomas Colley

  3. Mark Workman is at Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial College London, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK,

    Mark Workman

Authors
  1. Simon Bushell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Thomas Colley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mark Workman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Bushell.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bushell, S., Colley, T. & Workman, M. A unified narrative for climate change. Nature Clim Change 5, 971–973 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2726

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2726

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing