Both True: Climate Warrior or Climate Curious?

Manage your reputation and relationships now

Relationships and reputation: two things that oil and gas leaders manage today because they’ll need them tomorrow. I’ve argued that you should “Forget About Doing the Right Thing” and instead focus on what’s best for your business. But what’s best for your business includes keeping in mind that big world of climate-centric stakeholders, even if they aren’t top of mind for you right now. Because … tomorrow’s relationships require attention today.

But why do climate-centric stakeholders continue to be relevant to your material business interests (and therefore your real sustainability strategy)? And what do you need to do now to manage your future relationships and reputation? I’m so glad you asked.

Both of these things are true:

• You don’t have to share someone’s worldview to understand their (and that worldview’s) relevance to your business success.

• You don’t have to believe what someone else believes to respect that they believe it and engage constructively with them.

Your climate-centric stakeholders are not all the same

Last fall’s elections dealt a decisive blow to proponents of climate-centric energy policy. This was most forcefully summarized by a recent New York Times article, “Many Americans Say the Democratic Party Does Not Share Their Priorities,” which highlighted that climate does not fall in even the top five of respondents’ concerns as assessed by a January Times/Ipsos poll.

But that doesn’t mean that climate-centric voters have disappeared. Far from it! In fact, in December, a survey from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication noted that 73 percent of respondents believe global warming is happening and 64 percent are at least “somewhat worried” about it. In your world of stakeholders, that’s still a lot of people.

Here’s what these numbers mean for you: In a short number of years (or days, if you operate in politically blue jurisdictions), you are going to be making the case for why climate-centric stakeholders should be engaging or partnering with you, or otherwise supporting your business endeavors. So let’s look at who these soon-to-be-central-to-your-business-strategy stakeholders are!

I’ve been working with climate-centric stakeholders for my entire career, and here’s how I roughly group these stakeholders:

• The climate warrior: On one end of the climate-centric stakeholder spectrum, you have the 5 percent or so who take absolutist positions on energy and climate. You know these as the “Keep it in the ground,” “There is no role for oil and gas companies in climate action,” and “We need to get off oil and gas immediately” individuals. A sure tell of the climate warrior: They reveal that they are more committed to the battle over climate than to making progress on emissions reductions.

• The climate hawk: This next 10 percent-ish of individuals are science- and data-driven. They may (and often do!) express absolutist positions, yet they are truly interested in making progress on reducing emissions. Climate hawks are often characterized by genuine worry, intellectual curiosity, and receptivity to a wide range of solutions. (Note: climate hawks do not all get along nor agree on acceptable solutions.) I consider myself a climate hawk.

• The climate followers (aka the climate-curious): This group represents the remaining 85 percent or so of people who care about climate. The climate followers often express climate-warrior-like positions, but these pronouncements are more tied to a liberal-leaning or generational identity; the positions are part of being members in good standing of their peer groups. When it comes down to brass tacks (and copper pennies), this group is not generally willing to pay much more for energy and its associated services. The climate followers will often make symbolic (albeit sincere) gestures, such as giving up plastic straws or carpooling.

As an industry, we often conflate the huge number of climate follower stakeholders with the smaller set of climate warriors. Understanding the difference is central to our ultimate leadership endeavor in The Moment.

Ninety-five percent might listen to you—95 percent

The most common error you are likely making: treating all climate-centric stakeholders as if they are climate warriors—dogmatic and unmovable. I know from 20 years of engaging on this topic that the vast majority of climate-centric stakeholders hold their views lightly—much as you may hold your views lightly on health care policy or education reform. That gives you room to maneuver with about 95 percent of these stakeholders.

Engaging with the climate hawks is toughest for oil and gas leaders. Yet they are your most likely future allies. If you’re going to spend an outsized effort, spend it here. Working with the climate-follower individuals is largely a matter of understanding what the world looks like to them, why they believe what they do, and whom they may trust to help evolve their thinking.

Seize the day

Among your climate-hawk and climate-curious stakeholders, there has never been a better time to burnish your reputation. They are feeling on the outs, unsure of the trajectory to success, and interested in making progress. (They are also vulnerable to being converted into climate warriors if they cannot see a path to incremental progress!) The actions your company takes and the commitments you make now indicate your strategic stability and overall commitment to real sustainability.

And as you’ll remember from when the WTI price sank below $0 or oil and gas company stocks were trading at a discount due to “stranded asset” concerns, relationships are forged when times are hard. You keep track of who stood with you in those times, and you remain loyal to them in the future.

I recommend three ways to burnish your reputation and build relationships with your climate-centric stakeholders:

1. Build your understanding of the climate-centric worldview. There are still plenty of news sources keeping climate change at the center of all energy- and weather-related discussions. Consume the news stories you are tempted to skip. Engage in the conversations you’d just as soon avoid. Pay attention to how omnipresent the climate narrative still is and how much it informs the way a huge segment of the population thinks.

2. Build a climate-centric policy playbook. Engaging in The Moment with political and civic leaders will require an understanding of their climate-centric understanding of policy. All too often, oil and gas leaders rush in with their hot take instead of first understanding why the leaders they’re talking with think their current climate playbook will work. Before you can even talk with climate-centric political leaders, you need first to understand what their current world of solutions looks like. More on this in upcoming Both Trues.

3. Stay the course. Continue to champion your company’s strategic priorities around real sustainability.

You can have confidence that these priorities are nonpolitical when articulated in the context of your material business interests. Yet later, when your climate-centric stakeholders are assessing your reliability as a partner, your consistency will weigh heavily in your favor.

Now what?

This topic is top of mind for our clients, so we are providing scenario-planning workshops both virtually and in person to help your teams mitigate the risks with climate-centric stakeholders.

• Reach out to schedule your team’s briefing or working session.

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To engaging curiosity,

Tisha