Planetary Communications

Audience: General public, policymakers, media, and researchers across sectors

Planetary Comms mix: High on “Be factful”

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) is a research and communication project led by Future Earth. It exemplifies factful communication by transparently presenting an annual Global Carbon Budget (GCB) with clear methodology, rigorously quantified uncertainties, open data, and a balanced but urgent framing that supports informed policy without resorting to
exaggeration.

Despite its underlying complexity, the GCP manages to translate rigorous science into a clear, digestible format for policymakers, media, and the public. Charts and visualisations show global emissions trends, per-capita contributions, and carbon sink behaviour, while FAQs and press releases explain uncertainties and scenarios in accessible language. In this way, climate science is communicated reliably and responsibly, giving audiences a solid, evidencebased picture of where humanity stands in the climate challenge.

Impact: The GCB has become the authoritative benchmark for global emissions tracking. Policymakers use it to evaluate climate pledges, companies and investors reference it for sustainability planning, and journalists rely on its clear visuals and data for climate reporting. Its open-data approach ensures transparency, allowing researchers and decision-makers to interrogate the numbers directly.

Audience: General public and companies in different sectors

Planetary Comms mix: High on “Simplify it”

The “Carbon Law” by Johan Rockström and colleagues is a rule of thumb stating that global CO2 emissions must be halved every decade to reach near-zero emissions by mid-century and keep warming well below 2°C. It was introduced in the 2017 Science paper “A roadmap for rapid decarbonization,” which drew on carbon budget calculations, Earth system models, and IPCC-based climate science. The underlying research is complex, involving nonlinear dynamics, feedback loops, and uncertainty ranges. However, the authors deliberately translated it into something that could be easily understood outside the scientific community. In this way, rigorous science was turned into a clear, memorable guideline for various business sectors, policymakers and the public.

Impact: Building on the Carbon Law, the Exponential Roadmap Initiative (ERI) was launched to translate the science-based halving-every-decade idea into concrete business action, via its 1.5°C Business Playbook, transition-planning tools, and peer collaboration. In total, the initiative has brought together companies representing more than 2 million employees and over USD 1.2 trillion in annual revenue.

Audience: Decision makers and the public

Planetary Comms mix: High on “Time it wisely”

The 10 New Insights in Climate Science (NICS) provide concise, science-based takeaways on critical climate topics, translating complex research into actionable
guidance. Each year, the latest scientific studies and climate model analyses are distilled into accessible insights for policymakers, business leaders, and the public. By framing complex climate science in clear, memorable terms, the 10 NICS help
decision-makers grasp urgent issues and emerging trends in a rapidly changing climate.

Impact: By being published annually at climate COP meetings, the 10 NICS create a regular rhythm of evidence-based updates that inform policy and strategy worldwide. This yearly repetition (with different content) reinforces awareness, helps track progress, and ensures that the latest scientific findings are continuously integrated into climate decision-making and planning processes.

Audience: Decision makers, businesses and the general public

Planetary Comms mix: High on “Link it to other societal concerns”

Globally, both the number and diversity of insects are declining due to habitat loss, disease, pollution, and climate change. To highlight the urgency, IPBES (the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) emphasised the immense societal and economic value of insects. For example, the loss of pollinators alone threatens $235–$577 billion (USD) in global crop output annually.According to the same assessment, pollination services account for 5–8% of total cropmarket output across different world regions.

Insects also provide essential services beyond pollination, including nutrient cycling,
pest control, and soil health. Their decline jeopardises livelihoods, food security, and ecosystem resilience, making the consequences of insect loss economically and socially significant.

Impact: By putting a monetary value on pollination, IPBES made the abstract concept of biodiversity loss tangible for policymakers, businesses, and the public. This approach strengthened the rationale for funding pollinator protection, ecosystem restoration, and broader biodiversity initiatives. The findings were widely reported in outlets such as The Guardian, New York Times, and CNN, demonstrating how linking ecological issues to societal concerns can drive awareness and action.

Audience: General public, companies and foundations caring for a cleaner environment

Planetary Comms mix: High on “Inspire collective action”

In 2017, Thomas de Groote from Belgium got challenged by his sister to pick up trash for only 10 minutes. He dressed up as a super hero and brought his kids with him. The small action opened eyes to a global problem: plastic pollution. After a few years of organising clean-up actions and learning about the effects of plastic pollution, Thomas founded a non-profit organisation “River cleanup”. The initiative invites people around the world to contribute to plastic-free rivers by either joining the 10-minute challenge, organising clean-up events in their local communities, engaging their colleagues at work, or funding the River cleanup organisation.

Through its website, social media channels and educational activities, the organisation is building a worldwide community of “river warriors” that help to further spread awareness of plastic pollution and contribute to its solutions, not only by focusing on the plastic removal, but also targeting the core problem of growing plastic production and consumption.

Impact: What started as a personal 10-minute challenge grew to a community of 288,000 people in 101 countries cleaning waste along more than 450 rivers with the ambition to clean up 1000 rivers worldwide by 2050. As of the end of 2024, the initiative has permanently removed up to 3,6 million kg of waste from the rivers. Interestingly, the campaign has moved beyond physical cleanups, using citizen science, AI, and research partnerships aimed at influencing policymakers and companies toward structural solutions.

Audience: General public, policy makers and scientists

Planetary Comms mix:High on "Highlight solutions”

The initiative “Seeds of Good Anthropocenes” is both a scientific and a communication effort that identifies and amplifies existing sustainability initiatives (“seeds”) that have the potential to contribute to positive futures in the Anthropocene (the age of humans). The rationale behind the initiative is that only focusing on problems and dystopic visions about climate, biodiversity loss, increased inequality etc, tends to make it very difficult to imagine how the world could work differently and inspire solutions towards achieving radical change. The highlighted sustainability solutions can be social initiatives, new technologies or tools, economic or financial instruments, organisations or movements, etc.

Impact: Led by McGill University, the Stockholm Resilience Centre, and Stellenbosch University since 2014, the initiative has resulted in a global database of over 500 real-world solutions-oriented “seeds”. By sharing these through public platforms, workshops, and research, the initiative has inspired policymakers, scientists, and the wider public to imagine and engage with more hopeful futures. It demonstrates how positive storytelling can empower action and support more constructive dialogue about sustainability transformations.

Audience: The general public, music industry and food system stakeholders

Planetary Comms mix: High on "Navigate emotions”

The food research centre PLATE, together with Swedish indie legends Bob Hund, explored a bold question: Could science and creativity change attitudes toward sustainable food? The result was a humorous, thought-provoking food truck for resilient meals, launched during the band's farewell tour. Co-designed with scientists, the menu featured dishes like "Punk Stew" to make healthy and sustainable eating desirable and fun.

"Transformation doesn't work if we take ourselves too seriously. We need both humour and seriousness – enough concern to act, but not so much fear that people shut down," said Bob Hund's creative director, Martin Kann. This linked planetary health, culture, and personal choice while also using playfulness to prevent fear-based disengagement and keep people open to change.

In this collaboration, Bob Hund acted as a cultural translator, converting science into something emotionally resonant and accessible. This kind of bridge-building between expert knowledge and everyday life is one of the most underused tools in sustainability science communication.

Impact: The food truck reached a large audience at the events it visited, including the 2025 Way Out West festival with 78,000 attendees and Bob Hund’s sold-out farewell concert on 30 August 2025 in Stockholm with 18,000 fans. It also sparked widespread media coverage across newspapers, radio, television, and social media – where it not only gained attention but also triggered healthy debate and some critical voices, adding depth to the conversation.

Audience: General public and decision makers

Planetary Comms mix: High on "Make it personal”

It has been labelled “The Greta Thunberg Effect” and it refers to how those who are more familiar with her have a stronger sense of collective efficacy (the shared belief within a group that its members can work together effectively to achieve a common goal) and in turn have higher intentions of taking collective actions to reduce global warming. Thunberg began a global movement by camping out in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign that read “School Strike for Climate.” Her catchphrase was ”Don’t listen to me, listen to the science.” After a while, more people joined and the rest is history. She became TIME Magazine’s Person of the Year 2019 and has addressed heads of state at the UN, met with the Pope, and inspired many million people to join the global climate strikes.

Another example is the Chilean climate and gender equality activist Julieta Martínez, who has built an entire movement across Latin America and the Caribbean. She started at 14, is now in her early twenties, and in 2026 received the prestigious Swedish WIN WIN Youth Award.

Impact: Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future helped mobilise 6–7 million people
worldwide, earned her TIME’s Person of the Year in 2019, and brought youth-led
climate action to the center of global political and cultural discourse.

Audience: General economy, decision makers

Planetary Comms mix: High on "Visualise it”

“Dear economy” is an immersive experience created by Sally, the accounting giant EY’s future lab. It is part drama and part escape-room that invites the participants to step into the challenges and possibilities of re-imagining the economy within planetary boundaries. A future that we are currently headed to is described, but also where we could go instead. It makes the statistics hit you in the gut. Participants step straight into a room where they are in contact with the future through digital means and physical objects (a screen, a phone, a printer printing pages, and objects in an office). It is a future where good intentions and transition efforts have proven insufficient, inviting visitors to imagine a world beyond today’s economic logic.
The visual and immersive journey invites participants to move through the sensory and emotional landscape of a collapsing world, and into the early outlines of something new.

“It was only when we showed people a crashed economy that they could accept that
another economy might be possible,” says Tove Blomgren, creative lead at Sally.

Impact: The immersive experience has been presented during the annual political week “Almedalen” in Sweden and has also won an award in Norway. It invites participants to step into a powerful, 30-minute immersive exploration of the limits of today’s economic system, and what it would take to imagine a new one beyond short-term logic and planetary overuse.