Standfirst: Before commissioning a video, building a stand or drafting a keynote, decide what your audience should understand, what your evidence can support and what you want people to do next.
An organisation can arrive at COP31 with a strong visual identity, a busy programme and very little that stays with visitors. Climate conferences attract people with different interests: policymakers, civil society, researchers, investors, journalists, practitioners and communities. They will not all respond to the same headline.
A good COP31 message begins with a practical decision: who are we talking to, about what, and to what end? This guide helps communication teams make that decision and translate it into a consistent set of materials.
1. Identify the specific purpose of being there
Choose one primary objective for each audience or activity. Possibilities include explaining evidence from a project, recruiting implementation partners, contributing to a policy discussion, inviting people into an event, finding customers or collecting feedback. Avoid describing all of these as equal priorities. If the aim is to secure five relevant follow-up meetings, a generic awareness campaign is unlikely to be enough.
Write an internal sentence: “After meeting us, [audience] should understand [one point] and be able to [one action].”
2. Make a stakeholder-specific message map
Create three columns: audience, their current question and your useful answer. A journalist may ask what is new and independently verifiable. A policymaker may ask what needs to change and who can implement it. A local community organisation may ask how it is involved and who benefits. Your central position can stay consistent while the supporting detail changes.
| Audience | Likely question | Suitable material |
|---|---|---|
| Policymaker | Which decision or implementation barrier matters? | One-page policy brief with a specific ask |
| Civil society or community partner | How will participation and accountability work? | Project case, participation pathway, named contact |
| Journalist | What can be checked or challenged? | Evidence note, definitions, contact for follow-up |
| Stand visitor | Can I understand this in one minute? | Short headline, proof point, optional interaction |
3. Separate evidence, targets and aspirations
For every prominent sentence, mark it as one of these: observed result, verified current practice, future target, proposal or opinion. A target is not a delivered outcome; a pilot is not an organisation-wide achievement. State coverage, date, baseline and relevant exclusions alongside figures when they could change the impression.
For example, “We cut emissions by 40%” leaves essential questions unanswered: which emissions, compared with when, through which methodology and with what boundary? Do not publish a headline until the underlying evidence can answer those questions.
4. Build a simple message hierarchy
Prepare one sentence that someone can repeat accurately after leaving the stand. Support it with two or three evidence points, one concrete example and one clear next step. Your public materials can then share the same backbone: stand, presentation, speaker notes, press kit, website and social posts. If a format needs more detail, add depth rather than change the underlying claim.
Suggested structure:
- Core point: What is the substantive contribution or challenge?
- Proof: Which documented result, publication, project or case supports it?
- Limit: What remains unresolved or outside your scope?
- Invitation: What should an interested person do next?
5. Test the visitor's first 60 seconds
Ask someone outside the project to look at the main stand panel or landing page briefly. Can they explain what the organisation does, why the claim matters and how to follow up? If they repeat only a slogan, simplify the hierarchy. If the material makes a broad environmental promise, run a credibility review before investing in production.
6. Prepare for difficult questions
Create a short internal Q&A covering data sources, funding and partners, delivery milestones, limitations, sensitive impacts and possible contradictions between the exhibit and the message. Agree who can answer on the spot and who will respond afterwards. Do not improvise facts to fill a gap.
Seven-point pre-publication checklist
- [ ] A primary audience and a desired next step are defined.
- [ ] Every main claim is labelled internally as result, practice, target, proposal or opinion.
- [ ] Evidence owner, source and date are recorded.
- [ ] Stand, speaker, press and digital material use consistent claims.
- [ ] Significant caveats and scope limits are visible.
- [ ] English and Turkish terminology has been checked by a human editor.
- [ ] The team knows who responds to evidence and criticism questions.
Editorial note: Strong messages need honest evidence and room for challenge. COP31Radar's independent guidance does not amount to an endorsement of any participating organisation.
Support from SICI: Social Institute of Change and Impact (SICI) can help with a documented message framework, selected content drafts and a review of their consistency. Discuss your COP31 plans