The key to reaching the tipping point we urgently need for action on the climate crisis.

89% of the global population wants stronger action on the climate crisis, according to new research, most people just didn't realise that this was the case. This could be our path to change.

This is by far one of the most hopeful and motivating articles I have read recently. ‘Spiral of silence’: climate action is very popular, so why don’t people realise it? was published recently in The Guardian, speaking of a global survey of 130,000 people from 125 countries, which found that 89% of people want more to be done to fight the climate crisis. The most significant part? Most people didn’t realise that most people also felt the same, and now that we know this, we could have the key to unlocking the huge social tipping point we need for urgent, stronger action on the climate crisis.

I’m sure we’ve all felt this before, the idea that much more needs to be done to act on this huge existential threat that we all face, but no one else really seems to be talking about it? It sure isn’t covered enough in the mainstream media, and it generally doesn’t become part of our light hearted day to day conversations, which is understandable, we don’t really want to be talking about collapsing ecosystems to everyone we see in the street. But maybe because we tend to steer away from talking about it, because it is so huge and existential, we don’t realise other people feel the same as us? Well now we know that most people actually do.

Experts believe that this could be one of our most powerful tools to fight the climate crisis: a low cost communications campaign, to make people understand that most people actually want more action on the climate crisis. I believe this could work, because when I learned about this research, it gave me an extra boost of motivation to do more of what I can to make a change, knowing that the majority of the global population also wants more to be done.

This campaign has begun, and it’s called The 89% Project. The Guardian has joined forces with dozens of other newsrooms around the world, to highlight the fact the vast majority of the world’s population wants climate action.

There’s more we can each do right now too. Currently, it seems, we’re a silent majority. We need to become a less silent. Know that when you walk down the street or into the shops, roughly 8 out of every 10 people you walk past also want stronger climate action. If you were to become more vocal or active on the climate crisis, know that for every 10 people who hear your words or see your actions, roughly 8 of those people feel the same. By standing up and speaking up, you will provide comfort to those around you, letting them know that more people feel the same as them, which could encourage those to also do the same.

If we can inject hope, inspiration and motivation into people to join the movement and speak up, we could be well on our way to achieving the social tipping point we desperately need. What we’re asking for is nothing short of radical system changing action. It might sound too unrealistic, especially right now in the age of Trump 2.0, but I believe we can achieve it, and it sounds like we’ve just reached our next major checkpoint in making that happen.

You can read the full article published in The Guardian by heading to the link: ‘Spiral of silence’: climate action is very popular, so why don’t people realise it?