The ambivalent role of environmental NGOs in climate communication

Abstract

Environmental NGOs play a vital role in public climate communication through their awareness-raising activities and educational campaigns. This commentary points to a potentially problematic implication of their role as climate science advocates which includes the general tendency to attribute environmental changes and extreme weather events to climate change. These climate-centric framings, however, may not resonate with the lived experiences and belief systems of local communities, not even in geographically vulnerable areas. I draw on local case studies to show that communities often express a sense of “shared responsibility” between global carbon dioxide emissions and ecologically deleterious local practices such as shrimp farming (in Bangladesh) and cutting trees (in the Philippines). As a consequence, the studies show mismatches between activists' attributions of local circumstances and events, and local communities' ways of knowing their local circumstances.

Experts, influencers, and amplifiers — Exploring climate movements' hyperlinking practices

“…Seen together with indications that these movements have successfully contributed to strategic narratives aimed at increasing support for policy measures to address climate change [Bevan, Colley and Workman, 2020], this points to a strong role of activists as science communicators as also indicated by a series of comments [Faehnrich, Riedlinger and Weitkamp, 2020;Feldman, 2020;Gregory, 2020;Rödder, 2020;Windfeldt, 2020].…”

“…These activities are no longer limited to scientists themselves or formal science communication practices within science journalism or science education. While activists' use of science for their own sense-making [Fähnrich, 2018] and their potential role as knowledge-brokers in policy-making processes [Sardo and Weitkamp, 2017] have been explored, their role in public communication of environmental science has only recently come under scrutiny [Faehnrich, Riedlinger and Weitkamp, 2020;Feldman, 2020;Gregory, 2020;Rödder, 2020;Windfeldt, 2020]. NGOs working with environmental issues and environmental action groups can be especially prone to take on a role in communicating scientific information "because empirical claims about the state of the natural environment are core to their message" [Yearley, 2008, pp.…”

Differentiated Trust Strategies and Rebellious Acceptance: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of the Trust Strategies Used by Scientist Communicators and Citizen Science Communicators in Chinese Online Climate Communication

“…However, to date, the task of most climate communication studies focusing on trust has been to explore trust in scientists, experts or professional institutions like the IPCC as communicators, such as how to make the public trust scientists or other experts more (see Ahluwalia et al, 2021; Alves & Wagner Mainardes, 2017; Goodwin & Dahlstrom, 2014; Grasswick, 2014; Hamilton et al, 2015; O’Brien et al, 2021). However, the reality is that the communicators of climate change are no longer limited to experts or scientists (Herrera-Lima, 2020; Lukanda, 2020; Rödder, 2020; Windfeldt, 2020; Yang, 2022a). The previously relatively fixed trust relationship (expert-trustee; public-trustor) has also begun to loosen.…”

“…In the digital media environment, climate communication has been found to no longer strictly follow the traditional science communication “deficit model,” that is, scientists-as-communicators and public-as-audiences. Many alternative/complementary science communicators have begun to appear, and they play a diverse role in transmitting climate science knowledge and information to various audiences through a range of channels, such as citizen science communicators (Yang, 2022a), online activists (Herrera-Lima, 2020; Lukanda, 2020), and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs; Rödder, 2020; Windfeldt, 2020). But no matter the identity of the communicators, their purpose in climate communication practice is to gain trust and make the audience believe their views and opinions (Goodwin & Dahlstrom, 2014).…”

“Listen to the science!”—The role of scientific knowledge for the Fridays for Future movement

“…Since the young activists can not yet be effective enough because they seem to lack a certain status, experience, and network they focus on the undeniable facts of climate science: Thunberg "therefore urged politicians to listen to scientists, if not the youth strikers themselves, in enacting drastic climate change policies" (Han and Ahn, 2020, p. 11). Also, Rödder (2020) agrees by showing that climate movements use scientific knowledge strategically for environmental communication and therefore strengthen their objectivity and so act simultaneously as agents for environmental issues and climate science (Maeseele, 2009). In this regard, Friberg (2022) describes the narratives of FfF as not focused on just one story, but rather parallel strings are being followed with the main goal to mobilize and create awareness for the issue of climate change.…”