The Fight for the Environment Needs Better Slogans
By: Jerren Gan
Tags: Politics, Sustainability, Activism, Climate Change, Environment

The Fight for the Environment Needs Better Slogans

Why better rallying cries are needed by environmentalists worldwide

Photo by Callum Shaw on Unsplash

Activism thrives on slogans. “Black Lives Matter”, “Women’s rights are human rights” and “Love Wins” are just some of the slogans that have sparked off large movements.

Similarly, the fight for our environment is peppered with different slogans. From “There is no planet B” to “Save our Forests”, environmental activists have been trying to encourage action through the spread of these messages.

And these messages have been working. Students have taken up sign boards in climate strikes in order to push for political change. Coal power is slowly being phased out by countries. And many countries are doing more for the environment as citizens push for greener actions.

However, in order to truly help the environment, the old slogans that sparked change wouldn’t be enough alone. We need new and fresh rallying cries that can effect changes quickly and efficiently.

Not every slogan is equally effective

While slogans are the backbone of any movement, not every slogan gets the message across well.

In America, the call to “defund the police” swept across the country. And while many of the activists using this rallying cry had good intentions (reduce the police spending on militarised weapons and spending the money on training professionals that can help with different situations), the slogan could be very easily misunderstood (opposers took it as a call to dismantle police forces).

In fact, instead of encouraging change, the “defund the police” messaging furthered the divide between the two sides, reducing any chances of a proper conversation between the both sides (and conversation is key to making progress when trying to instill change). To quote President Obama: “I guess you can use a snappy slogan like ‘defund the police.’ But, you know, you lost a big audience the minute you say it”.

Similarly, when we are fighting for the environment, we often find ourselves claiming that “fossil fuel has to go”, “stop eating meat to save the rainforests”, and “renewable energy is the only way forward”. While all of these are undeniably good for our environment, these slogans might actually work to distance the very people environmental activists are trying to reach.

Instead of simply pointing out one side as the enemy, activism has to be more inclusive. We have to stop portraying the other side as “the dark side” and work to create slogans that can bring them over.

Talk about how renewables can create new jobs (maybe “solar power, creating a bright future for you”?), find out how shutting down that coal power plant can benefit the area, make some compromises and point out how everyone benefits so that there is an incentive for people to sit down and be willing to discuss our future together.

And most importantly, the slogan should be effective in delivering the message. If we have to stop and explain our rallying cries, it’s probably not a very good one.

Times are changing. Slogans should change too

In our climate fight, “climate change” and “global warming” are terms that have been around for a very long time (“global warming” was used in a scientific paper in 1975, introducing the public to this term). And while they do a good job of introducing the issue to the mass public, these terms fail to elicit any form of urgency or emotions that we need to solve the issues at hand.

Furthermore, these terms have been thrown around so much that many individuals are no longer effective in encouraging change.

In fact, when the emotional responses to different climate terms were studied, “climate crisis” was able to elicit a 60% increase in a Democrat’s emotional response when compared to “climate change”. For a Republican, the emotional response was actually tripled.

Additionally, the study also found that using “global warming” evoked a similar lukewarm response in the individuals they studied. On the other hand, “environmental destruction” managed to evoke the strongest emotional response.

And because the ultimate aim of environmental activism is to encourage people to care, changing the terms we use should be a key step as we move onto the next phase of environmental activism.

However, positivity is still the best

With the results of the previous study, it might seem that changing our phrasing from “climate change” to “environmental disaster” might be the best choice. After all, it was the term that managed to elicit the strongest emotional response.

However, using a term bursting with negativity might not be the best way forward. In fact, as I have written before, the negativity associated with climate change could actually discourage individuals to take action.

Research done by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication also reflected a similar conclusion. While it is true that there is a general increase of individuals worried about climate change, these individuals showed signs of losing hope.

And based on research done by Dr. Nicholas Smith, worry and hope were among the strongest factors that increased public support in Green policies.

That’s why as we work on rewording our rallying cries, it is imperative for them to instill hope. As much as they have to invoke urgency and worry amongst individuals, they have to give the listeners hope as well.

The slogans also have to encourage actions

And it’s not enough to simply instill hope. We have to encourage actions.

In order to fulfill that, we have to focus on the solutions instead of the problems. By including simple actions into the slogans, we can empower the audience to take charge and do their small part.

Solutions can come from a large range. We can work towards including companies to avoid (i.e. avoiding consuming products from companies that pollute the environment without a care), sharing reputable businesses (e.g. Ecosia), sharing ways that can maximise their time and effort, and highlighting government policies that one should support/fight against.

Additionally, it would become even better if the solutions are localised. Communicate with local businesses and help them become sustainable. Choose and fight for causes that could affect your neighbourhood directly. Only by encouraging people to first care about their backyard can we eventually bring the fight to bigger stages.

And yes, creating slogans that can fulfil all of these requirements is extremely difficult. In fact, even as I write this piece, I’m struggling to fit all of these into a catchy one that can be used.

However, that doesn’t mean that we should all just give up. Even when used alone, a slogan created with any of these lessons can go a long way in helping further the climate fight. And when we begin to make slogans that can fulfill these requirements, we’ll definitely be able to take the fight for a healthier Earth to the next stage.

Let’s all work together to create slogans so that protecting the environment becomes the norm.