It’s time for regular folks to tackle the real work on climate change
COP23 is finished — the protesters have left the streets and the leaders have gone home. Important commitments were made and the real work of ensuring that the world lives up to its promises has begun.
For more than a decade I’ve been studying environmentalists in East Asia, one of the hardest places on the planet to be a political activist, and I’ve discovered there are five strategies that are effective for making change no matter where you are. First, make a friend on the inside.
As has been demonstrated these past two weeks with the Us-china Joint Declaration, the Deforestation Declaration and the Global Methane Pledge, national leaders are able to make important commitments to take climate action. To the extent that advocates are connected to these leaders (by serving on boards together, meeting at conferences or just by going to school together), they will be able to encourage their leaders to take part in international collaborations. Advocates can become active partners in making positive change by holding leaders accountable — giving them credit for successes and shining a light on failures.
Second, make your solution work locally. Rather than chanting slogans or proposing global solutions, advocates who have successfully implemented a positive action that works in their local town or city will be respected as people who can get things done. Those local positive examples can then spread.
In 2004 a group of NGOS in Beijing worked to encourage hotels, malls and other public spaces to raise air-conditioner settings so people wouldn’t freeze inside during the summer, businesses would save on electricity and the air would be cleaner because of lower emissions. Businesses loved the idea, and so did the mayor — 26 degrees Celsius (78 Fahrenheit) became the city standard.
By 2006 the idea had spread to the national level, and Premier Wen Jiabao adopted it as a national standard that would help promote the development of a “conservation-minded society” in China. Third, make it work for business. Advocates able to find pro-environmental efforts that can also generate a profit will find many allies who can help implement their solutions. Tree Planet, a social enterprise startup in Korea, began by making video games where players planted virtual trees and cared for them. Advertisers would pay for virtual product placement, and for every virtual tree a real one would be planted in an area needing reforestation. Now the company is using crowdfunding to plant forests in landfills, areas suffering desertification, public parks and classrooms that need air-purifying plants.
Fourth, educate policymakers and the public.
Grassroots community-based educational efforts that expose citizens, especially children, to the natural environment will nurture an appreciation of the natural world and a deeper understanding of the connection between humans and the planet. At a more elite level, policymakers are busy people whose attention is often pulled in many directions.
Providing science-based information about specific environmental problems, articulating concrete solutions,and creating numerous opportunities for policymakers to claim credit for success are important ways in which advocates can promote positive environmental action.
Finally, art is a powerful way that environmental activists can make people care.
While scientists and businesspeople might talk about numbers, artists spark imagination and engage emotions. One fun example is the green pedestrian crossing designed by Jody Xiong of DDB China.
In 2010, Xiong placed giant white canvases with bare trees across the middle of city crosswalks, setting large blotters with eco-friendly green ink on both sides. People crossing would fill in the “leaves” of the empty trees as they walked, helping them understand that by walking instead of driving they were helping the environment. The project started in seven main streets in Shanghai and expanded to 132 roads in 15 cities across China. An estimated 4 million people took part, and another 5 million were reached by media and social media coverage.
In Glasgow, protesters grabbed our attention and policymakers made ambitious commitments. But COP23 is over.
The media spotlight on climate change will move away.
It is time for regular citizens, businesspeople, government officials, students and academics like me to get busy.
We know what works. Now we need to do it.