Meet-and-Move: A Counter-Messaging Framework for the Age of Climate Persuasion

In our previous post, we showed how climate disinformation in Europe has shifted from denial to persuasion. The most effective climate-hostile messaging no longer simply rejects the science. It validates real public concerns and redirects them toward deregulation and policy rollback.

This shift demands a different kind of response. Detection and debunking remain necessary, but they are insufficient when the claims being made are not necessarily false. We need frameworks that operate on the terrain of persuasion itself.

We call our approach Meet-and-Move.

THE MEET-AND-MOVE FRAMEWORK AUDIENCE SENSING NARRATIVE DETECTION PERSUASION DIAGNOSIS INTERVENTION EVALUATION Understanding what concerns, anxieties, and information environments audiences inhabit Identifying which narratives are circulating and gaining traction with persuadable audiences Analysing how narratives function as persuasion, not just whether claims are true or false Designing and deploying counter-messaging that validates concerns and redirects toward solutions Measuring impact on narrative shift and feeding insights back into the cycle OUTPUT: Concern Map OUTPUT: Narrative Analysis OUTPUT: Framing Analysis OUTPUT: Reframed Counter-Narratives OUTPUT: Narrative Shift Tracking CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK LOOP © Ripple Research

The logic

Most climate communication follows a familiar pattern: emphasise the science, stress the urgency, call for collective sacrifice, invoke future generations. The implicit message is that the planet is in danger and we must act now, even if it costs us.

This approach is well-intentioned but structurally disadvantaged. It is abstract where opposition messaging is concrete. It is future-oriented where opposition messaging speaks to present experience. It asks for sacrifice where opposition messaging offers relief.

Meet-and-Move starts from a different premise. Rather than asking “who are we targeting?”, it asks “what are people already worried about, and how can we meet them there?”

ENERGY COSTS AUDIENCE CONCERN "My energy bills are too high" DEREGULATION FRAMING "Germany goes bankrupt. Every 20 minutes a company dies. The green agenda is destroying our economy. We need cheap energy and lower taxes, not more climate regulation." MEET-AND-MOVE FRAMING "Yes, your energy bills are too high. But the cause is fossil fuel dependency, not climate policy. The path forward is energy independence, not deregulation that locks in volatile global markets." © Ripple Research

The three steps

Meet. Identify the concerns that are already resonating with persuadable audiences. These do not need to be invented or researched from scratch. Opposition messaging has already done this work. The concerns surfaced in high-engagement far-right content, such as energy costs, job security, national competitiveness, and elite imposition, are validated signals of what matters to people. Opposition narratives are, in effect, free audience research.

Move. Validate the concern as real, but offer a different explanation for its cause and a different path forward. For example: “Yes, your energy bills are too high. But the cause is fossil fuel dependency, not climate policy. The path forward is energy independence, not deregulation that locks in dependency on volatile global markets.”

The move does not dismiss or minimise the concern. It takes it seriously and redirects the causal story and the proposed solution.

Deliver. Match the message to credible messengers and appropriate formats. This means real voices: tradespeople, engineers, local business owners, energy cooperative members. Not politicians or NGOs delivering scripted talking points. It means concrete language grounded in lived experience, not abstract appeals to planetary responsibility. And it means formats that invite participation and conversation, not just broadcast.

Together, these three moves form an end-to-end approach: validate the concern, reframe the cause, redirect toward a climate-positive outcome

AUTOMOTIVE REGULATION AUDIENCE CONCERN "I can't afford an electric vehicle" DEREGULATION FRAMING "Brussels bureaucrats are banning the cars you can afford and forcing you into electric vehicles you can't. This isn't about the climate. It's about control. Scrap the 2035 ban." MEET-AND-MOVE FRAMING "Yes, electric vehicles are too expensive. But that's because the car industry failed to invest in affordable options. The answer is public investment in clean transport you can actually afford." © Ripple Research

Case Study: The Mamdani Campaign

In October 2024, Zohran Mamdani, a little-known state assemblymember from Queens, announced his candidacy for New York City mayor. By November 2025, he had defeated former Governor Andrew Cuomo and become the city's youngest mayor in over a century.
His campaign offers a case study in concern-first strategy.
The anchor: Mamdani centred his entire campaign on a single, universal concern: affordability. His slogan was "A City We Can Afford." His narrative: "Life doesn't have to be this hard. New York can be more affordable and it's government's job to deliver that."
Multiple entry points: From this anchor, he offered specific policies that met different audiences where they were: rent freezes for renters, free buses for commuters, city-run grocery stores for families facing rising food costs, universal childcare for working parents.
Meet, then move: Rather than leading with ideology, Mamdani led with listening. His breakthrough viral video simply asked working-class New Yorkers about their concerns and listened to their answers. He validated frustrations first, then connected them to his policy solutions.
Tailored framing, consistent substance: The campaign adapted its packaging for different audiences. Messaging to younger voters emphasised bold change; messaging to older voters emphasised pragmatic solutions. The substance remained the same.
Credible messengers: The campaign featured real voices: the overheated subway rider, the small-business owner, the senior paying property tax. No stock photos. No jargon.
Results: Mamdani won with over one million votes in the highest turnout NYC mayoral election since 1969. His coalition included young progressives, immigrant communities, working families, and notably, some Trump voters who responded to his affordability message.
The lesson: a concern-first approach can unite diverse audiences without diluting substance. Meet people where they are. Then move them.

Why this works

Meet-and-Move is built on a simple insight: people do not change their minds because they are presented with better facts. They change their minds when their existing concerns are taken seriously and when they are offered a more compelling story about cause and solution.

Opposition messaging succeeds not because people are stupid or misinformed, but because it meets people where they already are. Climate communication can do the same, but it requires a willingness to start with the audience’s reality rather than the communicator’s priorities.

This logic has precedent outside the climate space. In the 2025 New York City mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani built a winning coalition not by targeting demographics but by anchoring his campaign in a universal concern: affordability. He met voters where they were, validated their frustrations, and moved them toward his policy platform. The principle is the same: start with what people care about, then reframe toward the outcomes you want to achieve.

AGRICULTURAL REGULATION AUDIENCE CONCERN "Family farms are under threat" DEREGULATION FRAMING "Family farms are being shut down to meet targets set by people who have never worked the land. Farmers feed the nation. Instead of regulating them out of existence, back them." MEET-AND-MOVE FRAMING "Yes, family farms are under threat. But it's industrial agriculture and market concentration squeezing them, not environmental rules. The answer is fair pricing and resilient local food." © Ripple Research

Where we are now

Ripple Research has been developing and testing Meet-and-Move through our advisory work with European environmental organisations, advocacy groups, and policy networks. The framework draws on our research into climate disinformation narratives across platforms, including our investigation into the Dutch farmers’ protests and our studies of climate polarisation dynamics.

We are currently working with partners to apply Meet-and-Move to specific European contexts where the denial-to-deregulation shift is most advanced, particularly around energy policy, the EU Green Deal rollback, and far-right framing of climate regulation.

This is not a theoretical exercise. It is an operational framework being deployed in real campaigns with real audiences. We look forward to sharing more of this work in the months ahead.

If your organisation is navigating climate communication in a polarised environment, we would welcome a conversation. Get in touch here.