Is the climate crisis fair? This is a visual data essay for climate education by making planetary boundaries tangible using vivid examples and revealing data.
Time
May 2020 – Sep 2020
Client
Scientists4Future
Team
Elise Werner, Sophie Schüttemeyer, Donatus Wolf
My role
Content design, Storytelling, UI design
The topic
Justice ≠Equality
Justice is based on creating equal opportunities between people. However, exclusive equal treatment is not a solution, because people have different prerequisites and can contribute differently depending on their life circumstances.
Introductory animation 'Imbalance'
The final scrollytelling
The goal
How might we ...
explain the concept of climate justice inclusively and promote motivation for climate action in everyday life?
Overview of the 3 personas including their goals, pain points, and motivations
Personas
Three main personas helped to ensure the scrollytelling experience was inclusive and adaptable to diverse users' needs.
Focus on extreme users, defined by:
- Their attitude toward climate justice
- Their access to climate education
Matrix of user personas based on their attitude toward climate justice and access to climate education
Storytelling elements
[1] Split content bits
The story begins with two parallel narratives:
- One defines justice ('Gerechtigkeit')
- The other introduces the climate crisis ('Klima')
As users scroll further down, 'Justice' transitions into 'Climate' and eventually merges into 'Climate Justice'. This evolving visual language builds a compelling narrative arc.
[2] Moving data visualisation
A scroll-responsive data visualization highlights climate injustices by country:
- CO2 emission (per capita in 2017)
in connection with - The gross domestic product (2017)
and in connection with - The Climate Risk Index (Germanwatch)
The visualisation changes dynamically with scroll speed to keep users engaged and focused.
[3] Selectable storylines
Users can choose between three distinct stories, each highlighting a different level of climate justice:
- What does my individual consumption have to do with it?
→ Focus: Individual level - What makes heat in Germany unfair?
→ Focus: Local level (Germany) - What imbalance is caused by the global water masses?
→ Focus: Global level
Overall structure
These storytelling layers guide users from a global perspective to more personal and relatable contexts—shifting from abstract data to everyday realities.
This progression fosters both emotional and cognitive engagement with the topic of climate justice, encouraging users to reflect on their own consumption patterns and recognize the limitations of focusing solely on individual carbon footprints when it comes to climate responsibility and action.
Impact
Used in Climate Education Workshops
Adopted by the Kippunkt Kollektiv as a central storytelling tool in workshops and events on climate justice.
Published on a educational platform
Officially published on Klimaschau, the climate education website hosted by the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.
Developed with Scientific Expertise
Created in collaboration with scientists from Scientists4Future, ensuring accuracy and interdisciplinary credibility.
'The story helped me understand how deeply the climate crisis is connected to inequality. Not everyone on this planet shares the same responsibility to act. It changed how I think about fairness.'
– Lisa (42), Teacher
'Clicking through the stories helped me realise what I can do but also what needs to change systemically.'
– Chris (28), Marketing student
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© Linda Klotzbach 2025
© Linda Klotzbach 2025
