From Science to Strategy: Fellows Embark on Their Climate Campaigning Journey

In their first month with the Creative Climate Fellowship, Cohort 1 focused on two core aspects of their program: climate and campaigning. Fellows Ashar, Hannah, Matt, and Shrena engaged with international climate communicators and campaigners to ground themselves in the basics—from climate science and impacts to real-world case studies and strategic campaigning tools.

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Dr. Joanne Bentley of Zero Carbon Analytics kicked off the learning with the science behind climate change, breaking down how greenhouse gases are warming the planet. She also identified the sectors and countries that substantially emit these gases, noting the stark disparity between responsibility and impact.
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“While industrialized nations have benefited the most from fossil fuel-driven growth, they’ve also contributed the most to the problem,” Dr. Bentley explained. “As a result, they carry a greater responsibility to lead on emissions cuts and support developing countries in finance, technology, and (climate) adaptation.” 

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Building on the science, Ignacio Amigo, a writer and communications expert at the Global Strategic Communications Council (GSCC), explored how climate change manifests in everyday life. 

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With heat waves and extreme heat, “the fingerprints of climate change are clear,” Ignacio stated. But “while heat is killing a lot of people, these deaths go unnoticed because they happen in combination with other elements.”  He emphasized the disproportionate impact of the climate on the homes, environments, and livelihoods of vulnerable populations, many of whom are in disaster-prone regions in the Global South. 

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In her masterclass on climate campaigns, GSCC’s regional communications strategist Angeli Cantillana spotlighted case studies in Southeast Asia aimed at “stopping systems that lock communities into pollution, debt, and disaster.” She clarified that social inequities aggravated by climate change require systemic changes, including granular changes to the decisions and actions of governments, businesses, and institutions. 

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“The climate crisis in Asia is both deeply local and globally significant—and solutions won't scale without a demand for action,” Cantillana reminded the fellows. She stressed the power of storytelling, adding that amplifying community voices and highlighting the stakes for “real people and real places” are crucial to increasing public pressure for clean energy in the region. 

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But how do these demands translate in the digital age?

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Nurul Sarifah, a campaigner with Kpop4Planet, demonstrated how unconventional voices, such as pop culture fans, energize the climate movement. In 2023, Kpop4Planet mobilized fans of BTS, Hyundai’s brand ambassadors, to call out the car company’s greenwashing and its involvement in a proposed coal plant. 

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“We’ve been enjoying K-pop and Korean culture, but a Korean company is betraying us by contributing to a coal power plant that will harm people and our future,” Sarifah said.

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BTS fans, especially from Indonesia and South Korea, rallied behind the petition campaign, which ultimately helped end Hyundai’s involvement with the project in 2024. Sarifah credited the success to putting K-pop fans at the heart of the campaign: “Genuine voices are the strongest vehicles.”

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To further deepen the fellows’ learning, 2022 Goldman Environmental Prize winner Julien Vincent led a masterclass on campaign design. He challenged the fellows to reflect on key questions: Who has the power to make change happen? What will success look like? And how can a campaign build the power to achieve its goal?

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“Great campaigning is designed to get results,” Vincent emphasized. Through guided exercises, he taught the fellows to develop campaign objectives, strategies, and tactics. They also shared early ideas for their capstone projects and received feedback on how to test their assumptions and identify potential allies.

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“If you have these fundamentals done right, it’s an investment in yourself,” Vincent advised. “You want to win, and there’s pressure that comes from that. You’re in it because you care. Hopefully, working with these tools, ideas, and principles will help you get there quicker.” 

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Navigating a fellowship at the intersection of creativity, digital campaigning, and climate action has been both exciting and challenging for Cohort 1. In just one month, they gained critical insights into climate communications and campaigning.

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The Creative Climate Fellowship—a sandbox for fellows Shrena, Matt, Hannah, and Ashar—is just getting started. With more mentorship and opportunities ahead, stay tuned for the next chapter in their journey. 

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