Ethical climate storytelling asks a hard question that most climate conversations avoid: why do so many people shut down when the science is clear and the stakes are high, and how do we tell stories that actually move people to care and act. In this episode, we explore how ethical climate storytelling can reconnect audiences to climate issues without fear, guilt, or manipulation, and why this approach matters for protecting the ocean and the communities that depend on it.

Climate communication strategy often defaults to urgency and catastrophe, but our guest explains why that approach can backfire. Drawing on real-world media campaigns and public engagement work, Maya Lilly of The Years Project breaks down how human-centered narratives help people see themselves inside the climate story, especially when it comes to ocean warming, sea level rise, and coastal impacts.

Hope-based climate communication emerges as one of the most emotional and surprising insights of the episode. Maya shares how ethical storytelling is not about sugarcoating reality, but about restoring agency. Listeners will hear why people are more likely to protect the ocean when they feel respected, informed, and capable, rather than overwhelmed or blamed.

Chapters:
00:00 Ethical climate storytelling and why climate messaging fails
09:10 Why fear-based climate stories push people away
18:45 Making climate change personal without manipulation
28:30 Human-centered stories and ocean climate impacts
37:55 The emotional cost of getting climate communication wrong
47:20 Hope, agency, and behavior change in climate action
56:40 Ethical storytelling versus greenwashing
1:05:30 Reaching new audiences beyond the climate choir
1:15:10 What ocean communicators need to change right now
1:24:00 How ethical climate storytelling leads to action

#OceanConservation #MarineBiology #SaveOurOceans #ProtectTheOcean #OceanAwareness #BluePlanet #ConservationMatters #ScienceForChange #SustainableOceans
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