Making Better Climate Activism: It's Going to Take Everybody

11/13/23 • 38 min

In this episode of Climate Decoded, we unpack climate activism — what it is, how it works, and how it can work better. It’s one of the principal ways the general public can communicate to people in power and encourage others to do the same. You’ve probably heard of Greta Thunberg, the Fridays for Future movement, or seen some headlines about Extinction Rebellion stopping traffic or throwing soup on paintings. But is that really the essence of climate activism? And does it really move the needle on climate justice? How do we define “climate activism” and measure its effectiveness?

Climate activism is part of an ecosystem of activist movements. And not everyone identifies as a “climate activist”; some people resonate more with “advocate” or “intersectional justice activist”. In this episode, researcher Robyn Gulliver walks us through some of this terminology, and explains how different types of activism can be tracked and measured. We go on-the-ground in Perth, Australia, where Disrupt Burrup Hub activist Joana Partyka is speaking up against Woodside Energy’s gas extraction project threatening 12 different marine parks and indigenous rock art. From Cape Town, South Africa, Mitchelle Mhaka and Gabriel Klaasen explain their work as programme managers for African Climate Alliance, a youth-led, movement-based, grassroots organisation acting and advocating for Afrocentric climate justice. They talk through the importance of education, communication, and rest in activism work.

Lecturer Heather Alberro brings further understanding of how to conceptualize activism on a topic - climate change - that is so clearly a hyperobject: something whose dimensions in space and time are so massive in relation to a human life that it is impossible for us to fully conceptualize it. And yet we must still try to make change for the better. This episode offers a hopeful yet realistic view of the ground work done and yet to do in the climate activism space.

Find resources mentioned in the episode and more at www.climatedecoded.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Find resources mentioned in the episode and more at www.climatedecoded.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

IPCC: Reporting Climate Science to the World

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the leading force of the United Nations in advancing our understanding of climate change, its consequences, and the measures needed to combat it. In the realm of climate communication, IPCC reports stand as some of the most influential publications on the global stage. Since its inception in 1988, the flagship reports it has produced have played a foundational role in moulding public sentiment and policymaking on climate change.

But how are these reports developed? What collaborative efforts are made by experts in climate science, communication, and policy to bring them to life? In this episode of Climate Decoded, we’re asking: How does the IPCC, through its reports, influence global climate policy? With the guidance of climate and communication specialists, an exclusive visit to the IPCC headquarters, and a brief excursion to a Swiss lakeside city to meet an IPCC scientist, we explore the three essential stages of the IPCC report creation process.

Firstly, we delve into how climate research is collected and synthesized by IPCC authors. Secondly, we illuminate the methodical procedure through which this information is consolidated and communicated in the form of an IPCC report. Thirdly, we shed light on the role of global policymakers in the process. And while demystifying these stages, we cast a discerning eye on some of the frequently debated aspects of IPCC report production, namely the inclusivity of voices in the process and the delicate practice of offering policy recommendations without prescribing specific actions.

Find resources mentioned in the episode and more at www.climatedecoded.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

The COP: A High School Reunion for the Climate World, Part 1

The Conference of the Parties, commonly referred to as COP, represents the largest annual gathering worldwide dedicated to addressing climate change. Organised under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), COPs are hosted by different nations on a rotating basis. This series of conferences commenced in Berlin in 1995, and since then, 27 COP events have taken place. Notable among these are COP21 in Paris in 2015, which led to the historic Paris Agreement; COP3 in Kyoto in 1997, instrumental in establishing the Kyoto Protocol, and the less successful COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. The current iteration, COP28, is scheduled to convene in Dubai in late November 2023.

In this two-part segment, producers Greg and Izzie offer an exclusive glimpse behind the scenes of COP. They delve into the inherent challenges embedded in its structure, engage in conversations with a diverse range of COP participants, from former prime ministers to youth activists, and unravel this year’s big talking points - and all of this will be viewed through the prism of that stormy formative period in one's life: high school.

The COP is the high school reunion for the climate world.

Find resources mentioned in the episode and more at www.climatedecoded.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.