Climate-tech marketing is heading into 2026 with a clearer mandate: sharpen your message, strengthen your community, and stop spreading yourself thin. That’s the through-line from our live webinar, where a panel of leaders dug into what’s changed this year, and what absolutely must change next.
“Anything over the top is out, and good riddance,” said Whitney McGoram, Alder’s PR lead, opening the conversation with a reality check on climate messaging. Doomsday framing and “abstract eco-speak,” she argued, no longer move audiences. “Fear-based messaging… just shuts them down.” What works now? Solutions-oriented stories that are grounded in business value, not existential dread. “Authenticity and simplicity will be the baseline,” she said.
Partnerships as force multipliers
If there was a consensus across the panel, it’s that no climate marketer succeeds alone. For Steven Brisley, who leads marketing and strategy at Camus Energy, partnerships have become essential to reach overstretched audiences.
“There’s just a lot more noise,” he said. “Partnerships help us reach audiences we don’t have our own channels for… and borrowing networks makes it much easier to get attention.”
With small teams carrying big ambitions, Brisley framed partnerships not as a nice-to-have but as an operational necessity. Camus’ recent collaboration with Google, Princeton Zero Lab, and Encoord illustrated his point: “When multiple parties say the same thing, it makes it much easier to reach a broader audience.”
Marcus Knight, Alder’s go-to-market strategist, echoed the urgency: “Channel partnerships are a necessity in this day and age… especially when budgets are tighter, and you’re trying to do more.”
Do fewer things, and do them better
The myth of “everywhere at once” marketing took several hits throughout the discussion. Lauren Ridgley, CEO of Left Hand Agency, warned that spreading budgets thin across dozens of platforms does more harm than good.
“When budgets are tight and there are multiple channels, they’re actually having very little impact because they’re spread too thin,” she said. Her advice: pick fewer channels, tailor the creative to each environment, and build frequency. “It’s actually better to do less.”
Ridgley also urged climate marketers to treat context as non-negotiable: “Sometimes a CPM looks great on paper, but in reality, that’s not a great spot for your messaging.”
AI is here, but not as a magic wand
The panel agreed AI has moved beyond novelty into necessary infrastructure, but with caveats.
“AI is earlier in this stage of grand promises that don’t actually mean anything,” Brisley said, noting how many tools get discarded within days. Still, he highlighted the power of AI when applied to real bottlenecks, from rapid website restructuring to video editing and creative versioning.
Knight reinforced the need for intentionality. “Don’t use generative AI just for the sake of it… use it where it multiplies the impact.”
Advice for what’s next in 2026
Asked for one piece of guidance for emerging climate marketers, the panel kept it real.
“Tie marketing and sales to real business outcomes,” Knight said.
“Don’t forget the fundamentals,” Ridgley added.
“Be a consumer of the content you’re trying to create,” said McGoram.
And Brisley closed with the reminder to focus on customer pain, not industry niceties: “Being nice is not necessarily being kind… the kind thing is to be honest about what resonates.”
The message was clear: climate marketing is maturing. The teams that win in 2026 will be the ones who stay sharp, stay focused, and stay connected to the communities that carry their stories forward.eople laugh first, and think right after. Because the real power source in this transition isn’t just solar or wind—it’s connection.
