Summer is here—along with alarming reminders that something’s amiss with the climate. From record-breaking heatwaves to increased wildfire risk to violent storms, summer now feels like a season to survive rather than savor. “Coolcations” are now a thing: Instead of sweating through Southern Europe, travelers are chasing cooler temperatures in places like Scandinavia and Alaska.

It’s no surprise that people feel pessimistic about the climate and our ability to avert the worst consequences. Climate- or eco-anxiety is on the rise, especially among young people. At the same time, greenlash—the social and political backlash against climate policy and adaptation efforts—is sweeping the U.S. and Europe, driven by populism and the culture wars. Even before the current backlash, making progress on climate issues has been hard for a host of reasons, ranging from designing effective policy and economic incentives to inconsistent governmental and organizational commitment to motivating collective and individual action. It can feel pretty hopeless that we’re in a downswing, yet again.

Greenlash, however, doesn’t have to be a reason for despair. When it comes to change, we don’t have to view backlash as a failure; we can instead see it as a sign of progress.

Culture change isn’t linear

Research in psychology and across the social sciences shows that backlash and backsliding are normal, even expected, parts of societal, organizational, and behavioral transformation. Shaking up the status quo often spurs challenge, resistance, and setbacks.

Ideally, we can do more to anticipate likely forms of backlash before they occur. It’s natural during the change processes to bump up against norms, narratives, and attitudes that cause friction or opposition. This is particularly true when change is viewed over a longer, more holistic time horizon—it’s back-and-forth, up-and-down, ever-shifting, not linear. This is why the next principle in the intentional culture change framework is #6: Culture change is not a linear path.

Take, for example, climate adaptation—one of the biggest, thorniest problems humanity faces. It will require large-scale cultural change, shifting how we live and what we do across the Culture Cycle (ideas, institutions, interactions, and individuals). So rather than accepting backlash as a sign of failure, we can instead learn to perceive it as a signal that meaningful change is underway.

Backlash is much like the recoil of a gun: You can brace for it or design the gun to reduce it, but you can’t fire the gun without it. Likewise, when we work to shift culture with intention, we need to brace for impact—the change process isn’t simply going to be smooth sailing. And it likely won’t progress as expected or along a straight path. It’s important to anticipate and prepare for the long and winding road that true transformation often takes.

Buckle your seatbelt

Being prepared for backlash doesn’t mean passive anticipation. Whatever our role—as a climate changemaker or concerned individual—we can do more to expect the kinds of greenlash climate adaptation is likely to encounter, and devise strategies to defuse or even counter them. Using Principle #5, we can anticipate who may feel threatened by change and why, and strategize to bring more stakeholders on board, even detractors. This is a place where the Culture Cycle comes in handy. It can help us discover and map sources of conflicts and key tension points in the current culture, think through which conflicts or tensions change could rock or inflame, and suggest mitigation strategies. For instance, where might diverse stakeholders share goals, values, and interests? Can we cast a bigger tent and help more people feel aligned with the change?

Let’s look at two common sources of greenlash at different points in the Culture Cycle. At the institutions level, U.S. companies have pulled back from ESG (ethics, society, and governance) initiatives in the current political climate, moving away from pro-environment efforts. Despite this corporate backlash, green technologies like solar energy are outstripping even the most optimistic predictions, driven by low costs and high demand. This incongruity shows that while companies may be shifting their strategies and rhetoric due to the political landscape, business and economic conditions continue to drive renewable energy growth. Change is happening—but it may be more aligned with today’s politics for companies to highlight economic benefits rather than ethical ones.

Another familiar source of greenlash exists at the individuals level, because many people feel like their individual actions don’t matter when it comes to the climate. While research shows that some actions do have more impact than others (voting compared to recycling), individuals can and do make a difference. So if people can learn more about which individual actions matter most, and maybe even feel good about doing them, they’ll commit to those actions—and bring others along, too. This research and other studies like it show that one way to defuse individual backlash is with information and empowerment.

Remember: Culture change is dynamic and iterative; it’s ongoing work that’s never really done. At some point, changemakers will encounter rough waters and setbacks. But we can do more to be ready and nimble—and recognize backlash as proof of progress.