Reframing the Unframable: Shifting Climate Discussions from 'Doom' to 'Bloom'

Climate change has remained a pervasive issue within our global society for as long as I have been alive. It represents not only a threat to our current global institutions but also to the Earth's natural systems. However, despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence of this threat, action has been slowed by various actors who seek to slow climate progress for a multitude of reasons. Reasons such as economic incentives for stopping mitigation policies represent a true threat when addressing climate progress. Considering this, the issue comes to fruition with those who believe climate denial rhetoric used by the counter-climate change movements to skew public opinion. However, this skewing of information is not the end of the road for climate deniers, as reframing efforts can go a long way in reducing these beliefs for climate deniers and climate activists alike. This is because refocusing climate discussions on other aspects of climate change helps foster more psychologically positive outlooks. These outlooks, juxtaposed with climate pessimism, find themselves being more optimistic and following the subsequent principles of Climate Optimism. This optimism serves the purpose of shifting climate discussions away from pessimistic mindsets that have the potential to lead to climate anxiety and inaction. Here, Climate Optimism serves the goal of framing the unframable and shifting how we approach climate change from 'doom' to 'bloom.'