- Leonardo DiCaprio
- Greta Thunberg
- Al Gore
- Dwayne Johnson
- Joe Biden
- Donald Trump
- Elon Musk
- Bill Gates
- Keanu Reeves
- Bill Nye
DiCaprio's standing as a thought leader suggests that the medium matters as much as the messenger. He has produced and narrated several documentaries on the topic over the past decade, and almost three-quarters of consumers who’ve watched such films said doing so has prompted them to make changes aimed at minimizing their environmental footprint.
More than half of consumers across all ages report seeing news stories about sustainability at least once per month, with most consuming that content on TV. But more consumers said podcasts were a “very reliable” source of information related to sustainability compared with all other forms of media, while the fewest consumers said social media was the most reliable source — though only 19 percent said they had actually listened to a podcast about sustainability. Numbers particularly lag in scripted entertainment, though that might be starting to change. Just 22 percent said they’ve watched a fictional film related to sustainability, and that number drops to 14 percent who have played a video game related to sustainability (compared with 44 percent for a documentary, for instance, and 37 percent for TV). People also said the media is doing more on the issue — and should be doing more still. Half of consumers think that the frequency of sustainability-related stories has increased over the past two years, compared with 7 percent who said they have decreased. Yet 45 percent said the media should be doing more to help tackle climate change and other related challenges. When it comes to who is at fault for climate change, respondents were more divided. Forty-four percent said climate change is an issue caused by specific companies and individuals, while 42 percent said it’s not the fault of specific people or groups. NRG issued three recommendations for storytellers to make their content related to sustainability stand out as such stories become more common. The report encouraged storytellers to use a broader range of genres to communicate, model and normalize climate conscious behaviors, and focus on solutions as well as challenges.
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