Changing the future of nature: 5 principles for shifting narratives

For years, efforts to protect nature have focused on facts, rules and technical fixes. While important, these strategies alone haven’t been enough to change hearts, minds or markets.

Environmental campaigners and practitioners have been critical in pushing back against systems that harm nature and fuel inequality but they often focus on what we must stop doing rather than what we can build. That message rarely inspires widespread public support.

Another voice is now emerging – of innovators creating nature-positive solutions, from regenerative food to circular manufacturing. These inspire with a sense of what’s possible but scaling such solutions will require significant public and political will to embrace a cleaner, greener and fairer future.

Narrative plays a decisive role in realizing that future. Compelling stories help people embrace new norms around how we eat, travel, build and live. They have the power to make unfamiliar ideas feel credible and appealing.

We see the power of narrative from those opposing environmental action when they cast advocates for change as out-of-touch elites.

A 2023 study by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, which analyzed over 8,000 media stories, found that terms like “climate hysterics” and “elites” were among the most prominent anti-climate narratives, reflecting how deeply this framing has penetrated public discourse.

It’s time for climate and nature practitioners driving positive change to use narrative boldly to inspire, mobilize and surface new possibilities. Here are five key principles to achieve this.

Sustainability is often framed as a sacrifice – what we must stop doing or give up to avoid environmental disaster. While changes to lifestyles and livelihoods are inevitable, this rarely builds support.

To gain traction, we must align action on nature within today’s geopolitical priorities, making clear that protecting nature is essential to resilience and prosperity.

Rather than moral appeals to “save the planet,” we need narratives that frame restoring nature as a “save ourselves” strategy – vital for economies and stability.

Change only happens when better alternatives are visible. That’s why stories of credible, replicable solutions matter.

Costa Rica’s reversal of deforestation while growing its economy and Ecuador’s debt-for-nature swap, which delivered fiscal and biodiversity benefits, are examples showing that with the right incentives, nature-positive progress is achievable and replicable.

Markets move on sentiment, not just fundamentals. Yet nature finance is still framed as niche, low-return or overly complex, focused on conservation, not the future economy. This dampens demand, delays investment and sustains the status quo.

With the gap between market pricing and ecological reality widening, signalling a major correction ahead, we need narratives that reveal this disconnect and show how early movers are not just mitigating risk but seizing advantage by shaping markets and policies and outcompeting slower movers.

Electric vehicles illustrate this shift: once niche, now mainstream, with new leaders scaling rapidly. In agriculture, regenerative practices are providing commercially viable alternatives to conventional inputs, reducing emissions while improving yields. Water technologies – from smart irrigation to reuse systems – are drawing record investment, tackling scarcity and building resilience.

Meanwhile, data from the London Stock Exchange shows the green economy is already outpacing gross domestic product growth in many regions, reaching a market capitalization of $7.2 trillion in early 2024.

Smart capital is already on the move – with Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, establishing itself as one of the most active global investors in alternative proteins and China making strategic investments into circular economy initiatives and land-use optimization to meet its carbon neutrality goals by 2060.

For many, nature loss remains abstract. Ecosystem collapse or three-degree warming can seem distant, especially to urban populations whose connection to nature is limited.

People struggle to see what’s at risk or how to respond without bringing the stakes home – visually and emotionally.

Films such as David Attenborough’s “Ocean” combine wonder and warning to evoke awe, loss and possibility – showing what we have, what we’re losing and what might yet be saved.

But visibility isn’t enough. We also need clarity about the choices ahead. There is no path without trade-offs. Some industries will contract. Some regions must move faster. Narrative must move us past whether we can act to how we manage the transition with transparency, inclusion and direction.

Even when people are physically distant from nature, emotional ties run deep. Research shows that memories, culture and media sustain symbolic bonds to landscapes, shaping identity and values – even in urbanized environments.

Real-world moments reflect this. In the United Kingdom, the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree sparked national grief, despite few having seen it in person. In the United States, opposition to Alaska’s Pebble Mine drew widespread support from people who’d never been there, driven by concerns for pristine ecosystems and salmon populations.

Globally, landscapes such as the Amazon Rainforest, Great Barrier Reef and Okavango Delta evoke widespread concern care and action across borders.

Nature also transcends politics. In the United States, a 2024 poll showed that 94% of voters support expanding natural climate solutions, regardless of party. This isn’t an elite cause, it’s rooted, shared and emotional.

We must tell stories that root systemic change in personal connection — that make people proud of their landscapes, communities and role in protecting them. As we have seen from Colombia to China to New Zealand, pride in place is not just sentimental, it is a powerful force for collective change.

People often act not on personal beliefs but on what they perceive others expect. Narrative can reveal that positive behaviours are already widespread – shifting social norms and accelerating change.

We should spotlight “positive deviants” and unexpected champions. These are people outside the green bubble who are already shifting their behaviour and making nature-positive choices feel normal, desirable or pragmatic.

These messengers don’t need to be famous. Often, it’s the “sensible middle” – a farmer, a local business owner or a school parent – who holds the most influence. When this middle cohort acts, others listen.

However, public figures matter too. For example, Jeremy Clarkson’s surprising embrace of regenerative farming on mainstream TV reached millions who may have been less likely to watch a climate documentary. Or Bollywood star Vidya Balan championing plastic waste campaigns.

Their impact stems not from expertise but from their cultural reach. That’s why we need to champion messengers of all kinds – faith leaders, teachers, artists and media voices – not just as spokespeople but as storytellers who can shift what’s considered normal.

In a volatile world, narrative shapes how risk is perceived, hope is cultivated and legitimacy is established. To shift markets and policies, we must first change the story.

Lindsay Hooper is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Natural Capital, 2025-26. For more information, please visit the website or reach out to Council Manager Shivin Kohli.