Talking climate effectively

It's not easy to talk about the climate. Given the trajectory we're on, tempers flare - no pun intended - when it comes to the issue. The younger generations can see the catastrophe ahead, and criticize the inaction of the older generations, who cry alarmism, point the finger at other nations or sink into cynicism. In short, it's a situation that does nothing to encourage individual and collective action to improve the environmental situation.

In this Le Monde podcast, climate scientist Valérie Masson-Delmotte explains how she manages to talk about climate and make it understood by as many stakeholders as possible, from family members to politicians.

• First and foremost, she never positions herself as a lecturer, which would risk alienating her audience.
• She focuses on what brings people closer together, rather than what pulls them apart. Especially since opinion polls show that, generally speaking, all but a small percentage of people want to work towards reducing their carbon footprint.
• She also tries to understand other people's worldviews, to find out where their interests lie, and how these might be affected by climate change.

The idea is to teach both oil industry engineers and politicians that, in the end, they will gain more than they lose.

But it doesn't soften the blow. The situation is serious and can even be depressing. Time has been wasted, but as she says many times, it is still possible to act. Concrete solutions have emerged, and it would only take the efforts of public bodies, among others, to make substantial progress.

He also needs to dismantle the rhetoric of alibis for doing nothing. It's not easy, and it can be frustrating, but by taking these ideas apart one by one, with kindness, we open up the possibility of convincing a significant proportion of skeptics. Finally, she suggests being wary of all the "green" promises made by companies trying to capitalize on modern concerns without proving their claims.

Running time: 44:27