Charities have been told to use other societal issues that are linked to climate change to make the topic more engaging when communicating its importance to members of the public.

Speaking as part of a panel discussion at the Association of Charitable Foundations’ Leaders Forum in central London yesterday, Roger Harding, director of the climate awareness organisation Round Our Way UK, encouraged charities to pair other societal issues which are linked to climate change to make the conversation more straightforward.

“What we do at Round Our Way is try to highlight the disproportionate impact climate change is having on working class people and then we try to get more of our voices in the media and political debate,” Harding said.

“For example, we did some stuff on climate change making potholes more likely, probably the biggest story we’ve done and we still get tons of coverage.

“Loads of people wanted to talk about that and we could highlight that and talk about flooding and other things.”

Harding said his work at Round Our Way also looked at the impact climate change was having on elderly people and school conditions because of temperature changes.

“So climate change comes at the end of the sentence rather than the beginning. I think that’s our best shot at making it engaging.”

In the same discussion, Kamran Shezad, director of the Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, said it was important for charities to work with community leaders to relay the message of climate importance to their communities.

“I find the faith angle a very interesting way to start this conversation because it supports the personal and systemic motivations to bring about change,” he said.

“Faith groups are not just about theology and scripture – that’s one part of it, but you can mobilise communities and have influence on policies.

“There’s a growing space that’s expanding and more people are getting involved, not just faith leaders but also the community leaders, uncles, aunties, credit union people, it’s a central hub.”