As the window for keeping the earth’s temperature below 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming steadily closes, achieving broader public support is needed to sustain and accelerate early action on climate change.  In recognition of this challenge, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation brought together Camber and a core group of climate communications field-supporting organizations and funders to align on what they needed to prioritize – and change – within their strategies.

Camber worked with these stakeholders in late 2018 – early 2019 to develop a sector-wide view of the strengths, gaps, and opportunities to strengthen climate communications. Our team conducted an extensive review of literature and stakeholder documentation, administered a field survey, and consulted dozens of experts to map out the current state of the field, as well as inform the design of an analytical framework outlining the field’s strengths, gaps, and opportunities. Under Hewlett’s leadership, Camber helped facilitate a series of stakeholder convenings to work toward alignment on a set of joint priorities for collective action.  

These joint priorities informed the development of the Hewlett Foundation’s Climate Communications Grantmaking Strategy, which revolves around five key objectives: (1) center communications funding approach around people, and support communities and constituencies, (2) build the field’s capacity to engage populations digitally, (3) support the field’s capacity to respond to disinformation and organized opponents of climate progress, (4) focus on supporting connective tissue and infrastructure for coordination on these issues across the field, and (5) expand resources for communications. The effort has also informed a set of joint funder and stakeholder initiatives to fill specific gaps in sector capabilities.