What the evidence shows

This is a practitioner's handbook aimed at communications staff and “other champions of climate action” working on climate change in low- and middle-income countries. Its central premise is that audiences in developing countries are usually already convinced climate change is happening — they see it in heatwaves, floods, and failing crops — so the communicator's task is to help people make sense of what they're already experiencing, not to persuade them it's real. It’s connecting the big picture with people’s local experience.

The guide is organized around six practical themes: general communications principles; framing climate messages; building partnerships (including with marginalized groups); creative presentation; engaging with public policymakers; making science go viral; and walking the talk. Throughout, it emphasizes "show, don't tell" displaying stories from across South Asia, Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, illustrated with 30 case studies contributed by CDKN staff, partner organisations, and grantees, pairing risk messages with tangible, positive solutions.

Key Findings

• The WHO's 2018 report found that meeting the Paris Agreement's goals would save roughly a million lives per year through reduced air pollution alone.

• India's coal power sector faces "stranded asset" risk from five converging pressures: renewable cost competitiveness, financially distressed distribution companies, air pollution regulation, water scarcity, and coal shortages — with 40 gigawatts of coal capacity already "stressed."

• Nine of the ten countries most affected by extreme weather (1996–2015) were low-income or lower-middle-income countries, per the Global Climate Risk Index 2017.

Stand out data points

• 1/20th: the cost ratio of early vs. delayed (ten-year) climate adaptation investment in Uganda.

• 325 million: extremely poor people projected to live in the 49 most hazard-prone countries by 2030.

• 40 gigawatts: commissioned/under-construction Indian coal power capacity already classified as financially "stressed."

Examples of how Understories uses this research

• Accessibility Advocates "layering" messages (5-second/60-second/10-minute reads) and translating into local languages — directly actionable for message design.

• Actionability Nearly every section ends with audience-specific, checklist-style recommendations.

• Emotional Resonance Endorses "human interest" stories and testimonials from affected people, but cautions these must be paired with authoritative data, not stand alone.

• Personal relevance Strong emphasis on localizing climate impacts to audiences' lived experience (jobs, food security, housing) rather than abstract global science.

• Autonomy Several case studies (India's women filmmakers, Ghana's student competitions, Madurai's "Water Walks") model participatory, co-produced approaches that keep affected communities in control of their own narratives rather than being spoken for.

• Beneficence The guide is explicitly oriented toward practical impact for under-resourced communicators in the Global South  — but it conflates communications effectiveness with advocacy success without discussing potential trade-offs for message integrity.

— non-exhaustive.

Key quote

"Capacity-building under this Agreement should enhance the capacity and ability of developing country Parties... and the transparent, timely and accurate communication of information" (Paris Agreement, Article 11, quoted in the guide).

© 2019, Climate and Development Knowledge Network. All rights reserved. 

Last update: 5 August 2026

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