14 November, 2025

In 2025, it often seems that climate change has slipped down the political priority list. In the US, recent analysis shows Democrats are talking less about it, while governments and corporations elsewhere are also scaling back ambitious emissions targets. In many cases the ongoing cost-of-living crisis has driven a shift towards affordability and lowering costs for households rather than sweeping climate pledges. 

But here’s the twist: affordability might also offer a bridge back to climate action. Zohran Mamdani’s recent win in New York City offers a blueprint. His campaign didn’t frame climate as an abstract global crisis; it tied clean energy and transit investments directly to reducing everyday expenses. That message resonated with voters who feel squeezed by rising costs. 

This approach matters because climate policy often stalls when it feels disconnected from people’s immediate concerns. Linking climate solutions to tangible benefits such as lower utility bills, cheaper and more accessible public transport, and local job creation turns an existential issue into a kitchen-table one. It reframes climate action, something often seen as lofty and abstract, as a tool to lower costs rather than a luxury for the environmentally minded. 

The bottom line? Climate action isn’t disappearing; it’s evolving. As we learn to communicate the cross-cutting impacts of a warming world in more nuanced ways, we become better equipped to drive real change. The future belongs to leaders who connect sustainability to the everyday issues voters care about most and frame it in ways that inspire action, not apathy. 

By Meg Seckel