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Aerial Photograph from the Vancouver Climate Strike, Spring 2020 (image courtesy of Canada Press)

Environmental communication is a shared ethic of crisis and care, aimed at enhancing the ability of our society to respond appropriately to signs that the wellbeing of humans and natural biological systems are at risk.

Our thought processes, feelings and behaviour with respect to the natural environment is deeply influenced by what we see and hear, especially in terms of the media, journalism and in politics. An important dimension of environmental communication is that of collective agency, sparking a burning urgency in individuals and communities once they understand their role to play in the democratic movement on climate change. Climate solutions lie in making hope possible rather than despair convincing, in terms of the shift away from a neoliberalist economy, framing in news media and journalism and inspiring collective action and mobilization of the millennial generation.

This past summer I took an upper division communications class as part of the requirements for my degree. It was my first experience with CMNS learning, and it opened my eyes to the importance of narrative in our society, in terms of verbal dialogue and within the media. A lot the material I studied was contemporary, focusing on climate activism and the pivotal role of environmental communication in our transition towards making the changes that need to happen. I read Naomi Klein’s On Fire: The Burning Case for Green New Deal and her thesis resonated with me in that climate change cannot effectively addressed without a simultaneous deep reckoning with our society’s other ills of wealth and income inequality, racial discrimination and crumbling infrastructure. It is true that we live in a culture of the perpetual present, where neoliberalism has taught us that our consumption patterns are the most important way we can and do affect the climate: a mindset that is quite literally contributing to the downfall of the natural world.

The fact our economic system is so focused on continuous growth and relies on the delocalization of markets and global supply chains has wedged a fundamental disconnection between a wellbeing and national GDP, with maximization of profit consistently coming before that of human prosperity, let alone environmental conservation. Modern capitalism has engrained this idea of us as ‘consumers’ over ‘citizens’, and fully embodies the individualization of responsibility. When we become concerned about the environment, we often resort to purchasing ‘environmentally sound’ products, composting or recycling, rather than taking advantage of the fact that they are citizens of democratic entitlement who could come together and develop political clout sufficient to alter the institutional arrangements that drive pervasive consumerism. It’s really challenging for most people to conceptualize that casting a ballot, challenging a corrupt political institution in social outcry or supporting an intangible NGO ultimately could contribute more in putting out the flames of the climate crisis than focusing on individual-level changes such as making ‘greener’ purchases. However, people can hardly be blamed for this. When we can’t look at a problem and conceptualize how our actions could realistically contribute to positive change, we opt to tune out. In terms of broadcasting, some people call this ‘apocalypse fatigue’, and it does absolutely nothing to challenge political institutions or give rise to democratic action. Effective framing of the climate crisis strategically incorporates both hope and fear, giving listeners and viewers the ability to conceptualize the problem at hand and in response see themselves as part of an achievable solution. I personally believe that the necessary approach will be to involve political leaders and NGOs in launching campaigns that showcase clear examples of the changes that are already happening in the economic sector, so that people can tangibly grasp what realistic change can look like. We must as individuals understand ourselves to be members of a democratic society, working together to change broader policy and larger social institutions, and as consumers second.

Concerted efforts and campaigns that show clear and correlative links between collective action and real change for the climate is the kind of radical but hope-centered approach needed to incentivize the millennial and Gen-Z generations to participate in challenging the political crises that bind us, taking control of our destinies. Solutions-focused narratives utilize a combination of fear and hope to nudge people towards unlocking the possibility that communities and collective action are powerful in dealing with environmental chaos and catastrophe. Unfortunately, the narrative of climate change today is too often that of disaster-oriented paralyzing fear from rising seas and forest fires, which has shown to more often that not shut people down. Our society has all the tools to practice effective environmental communication of the climate crisis using a combined narrative of both alarmism and hope, and we can engage communities and individuals in the collective action necessary to foster real change. The time is now. It’s our once-in-a-century opportunity to build a fairer, more democratic economy and foster a socially and environmentally-just society.