[Editorial/Opinion] Simon Sinek is not the kind of pundit I would usually pay much attention to, I hope he’ll forgive my frankness. Ex-adman, “motivational speaker,” adviser to corporations, someone who can use the word “messaging” without embarrassment — I’m already bored and suspicious. But it’s undeniable that there’s something we can learn from just about everybody, and Mr Sinek gave me some chewy food for thought lately.

He was quoted in a recent online article, saying that the language used to name and describe the destabilisation of our climate is not serving us well. We know so many troubling facts, yet it seems so hard to get any traction or action. Why aren’t people more alarmed? Why such resistance to necessary changes?

We have, so Sinek claims, a marketing problem. We’re not “marketing” the gravity or urgency of the situation in a convincing way, and that’s contributing to denial and inaction at every level of our society.