Welcome to another week of Shaken Not Burned! 

Too often, climate conversations are filled with well-meaning phrases and distant threats. We hear about melting ice caps, rising seas, and catastrophic futures – but what do these really mean for our daily lives, our work, and our ability to shape the world around us?

In this week’s episode Felicia Jackson talks to Phil Korbel, co-founder and director of advocacy at the Carbon Literacy Project, about what it truly means to move beyond awareness into action.

We dive into what carbon literacy actually is: not another layer of theory, but a practical framework that helps individuals and organisations understand their carbon impact and, crucially, do something about it.

Phil shares stories of real people, from corporate executives to shop floor staff, who have shifted not just how they think, but how they act. Whether it’s changing how a company sets its net-zero targets, or how a single employee reimagines waste in a retail store, these are stories of measurable, empowering change.

This isn’t about guilt or fear. It’s about equipping people with knowledge and agency –making climate action not a distant ideal, but an embedded part of everyday decisions.

If you’re interested in learning more about carbon literacy for your organisation, or for yourselves, you can find out more at www.carbonliteracy.com. Or if this is something you’d be interested in us delivering for you, let us know at Shaken Not Burned and we'll see what we can deliver – reach out to [email protected].

Carbon literacy is the bridge from fuzzy awareness to concrete, measurable climate action, empowering individuals, embedding sustainable behaviours, and enabling societal transformation.

• Literacy enables action: multiple studies confirm that carbon literacy is a direct catalyst for real-world changes in habits and decisions.
  

• Empowerment through knowledge: journalism and organisational case studies show how best-in-class carbon literacy programmes shift behaviours by giving people confidence and agency.

• Beyond awareness to collective influence: when literacy is widespread, it lays the groundwork for coordinated social and political momentum.

Reading materials:

• Exploring Climate Education for All: The Carbon Literacy Project and Other Initiatives

• On the relationship between individual carbon literacy and carbon footprint components

• Activate climate’s ‘silent majority’ to supercharge action, experts say

• How to Communicate (And Amplify) Climate Action

• Becoming an Accredited Carbon Literacy Trainer

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