How to Advance Climate Solutions Despite Political Setbacks
Building durable climate progress in fragile times.
Posted February 12, 2026 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
We have been talking about climate change for decades. The science is clear. The technologies exist. Public concern is high. And yet progress still feels fragile, easily reversed by elections, court rulings, or political backlash. After each setback, the same question resurfaces: If the problem is so urgent, why does meaningful climate action remain so hard, and what would it take to move forward now?
The answer is not despair, or waiting for perfect political conditions. It is understanding what actually motivates people to support climate solutions and acting accordingly.
First, how we communicate about climate change matters. Polarization, misinformation, and disinformation undoubtedly suppress engagement. But the deeper challenge is sustaining motivation among those who already care, which is actually a majority of Americans . What mobilizes climate-aware audiences is not more alarming headlines, but credible, repeated, socially endorsed information that pairs hope with concrete, achievable actions.
The most effective climate communication blends story and scale. Personal narratives and lived examples capture attention and meaning; statistics provide calibration and credibility. One without the other fails: Stories can mislead, numbers can numb. Together, they empower.
That sense of empowerment is critical because climate action operates at two levels. Individual behavior changes, often driven by convenience and defaults, matter, but collective action matters more. People engage politically when they feel part of a shared effort, when injustice toward future generations is salient, and when participation feels consequential rather than symbolic.
This brings us to a striking and underappreciated problem: Most people dramatically misjudge which climate actions actually matter. Recycling feels virtuous but has limited impact. By contrast, flying less or shifting diets away from red meat can reduce emissions far more—and are feasible for many. Higher-impact actions like installing heat pumps, solar panels, or electric vehicles require more resources and infrastructure. And yet the most powerful climate action for many people is civic: voting, organizing, and advocating. A single well-placed vote can outweigh a year of living car-free.
Still, many people remain silent about climate change—not because they don’t care, but because they underestimate how much others do. For example, people are far more willing to support effective climate policies than conventional wisdom suggests or than policymakers assume. Even policies that impose short-term costs can earn public backing when they are perceived as fair, trustworthy, and effective.
This self-silencing is one of the quiet barriers to progress. Breaking it requires the right tone. Our research shows that hopeful communication sustains engagement, especially when paired with evidence that action works. Guilt tends to alienate. Fear grabs attention and can even lead to online sharing of information, but on its own, it burns out.
Fear is useful as an opening note, not a finale. When fear is high and efficacy is low, people disengage or deny. When fear is paired with achievable solutions and a sense of control, it can catalyze action. The emotions that sustain engagement over time, like hope, pride, determination, and even anger at injustice, are the ones that reinforce agency and collective purpose.
Finally, we cannot rely on climate impacts alone to move us. Extreme weather can raise concern , but mostly when the media clearly connects these events to climate change. That attribution happens surprisingly rarely . Waiting for experience to do the work of leadership is a passive strategy we can’t afford.
Systemic change happens when public opinion becomes visible, organized, and translated through institutions, elections, advocacy, or coordinated pressure on governments and firms. Collective action raises salience, shifts norms, and increases political and reputational costs for inaction. It builds identities and networks that endure beyond a single news cycle or election.
Political setbacks are real. But they are not signals to retreat. They are reminders that climate progress depends less on perfect moments and more on sustained, credible, collective effort grounded in fairness, efficacy, and the belief that what we do together truly matters. The climate agenda advances when we stop underestimating ourselves.
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Madalina Vlasceanu, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Behavioral Sciences in the Department of Environmental Social Sciences at Stanford University’s Doerr School of Sustainability and the Director of the Climate Cognition Lab.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.