This article is written by Pip Sadler, Researcher and Editor, Parliamentary Research Service.

There’s sometimes an uncomfortable dichotomy to working in climate policy. On one hand there’s the knowledge that we’re helping to make, drive forward, or communicate strategies that can genuinely make life better on an existential level. On the other, there can be a sense of unease that whatever we do won’t be enough – and that little nagging voice that asks if by choosing what’s politically and socially possible over the stark realities of raw data and science, am I part of the problem rather than the solution?

The problem with climate change and, by extension, climate policy is that it isn’t a “good story”. There is no single villain to conquer, but a never-ending battle that constantly shape-shifts.

As Jonathan Safran Foer writes in ‘We are the Weather’, the problem with climate change and, by extension, climate policy is that it isn’t a “good story”. There is no single villain to conquer, but a never-ending battle that constantly shape-shifts.

As Safran Foer says, not only is it “exhausting to contemplate the complexity and scale of the threats we face”, short of being affected by floods, droughts or other immediate disasters, it doesn’t feel like a personal emergency to many people, including a not-insignificant number of those in policymaking. Certainly not compared to healthcare, poverty, or the myriad other crises competing to be prioritised. A (dis)honourable mention should also go to the efforts of politicians and lobbyists with less-than-good intentions about climate policy who seek to weaponise the glacial pace of climate change – please excuse the pun – to argue that it’s something we can address when we’ve fixed everything else.

Seeking priorities

Despite this, those of us with a focus on the climate crisis in our day-to-day lives know how urgent it is. We also know that all those other policy areas are deeply interconnected with climate policy and cannot themselves be achieved without a healthy liveable planet with climate justice for all.

I went to see Greta Thunberg speak in London recently, where she talked about the need for everyone to be climate activists and to call for change. But there’s no point in a rising generation of committed, enthusiastic activists shouting into a void. Someone has to listen and actually pull the levers, argue why the hard decisions are necessary and put them into practice.

So, please – whatever your role in climate policy is, whether it’s all day every day, or here and there – regularly remind yourself that what you do during your working hours to advocate for strong, fair climate policy matters. It will almost certainly have a far greater impact than any changes you can make in your personal life. I would even go so far as to argue that however frustrating it can be, our jobs are a privilege when viewed from the perspective of someone who feels the panic of the climate emergency every day but feels powerless to stop it. The chance we have to do something is a gift, even when it feels like a burden.

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