Key Phrases for Communicating the Climate Crisis in 2020
Language shapes how we think about issues in our world. Choosing the right words to center our discussions matters. This is why The Guardian chose to update its style guide for climate change last year:
Instead of “climate change” the preferred terms are “climate emergency, crisis or breakdown” and “global heating” is favoured over “global warming”, although the original terms are not banned.
Leaders had agreed on the urgency for world leaders to take action with the publication of the IPCC Report on 1.5 degrees of Global Warming. Placing greater emphasis on the “existential threat” posed by the problem of climate change, the journal intensified its language.
Yet, we still face a crisis of reporting. Recently, most major TV news outlets in the U.S. failed to link the California wildfires to the climate emergency, making the connection in just 15% of reports. On the national stage, Donald Trump frequently dismisses the science and warnings of negative economic impacts of the climate crisis. By applying the correct terms to frame the subject, we can counter apathy.
Journalists that describe the climate crisis as an “all-encompassing” issue are heading in the right direction. Researchers from all domains show that climate change touches on every aspect of life: health, economics, jobs, inequality, and global security. The key phrases I’ve listed below reflect this necessary amplification of the problem.
Converging, Cascading or Concurrent Crises
In 2020, we saw how global problems intersect to create serious disruptions to public life. The pandemic has been described as a global health problem with intersecting threats of climate change and economic insecurity. This leaves certain groups, classified as “frontline communities” at greater risk. Yet, the concept of converging crises is not new, it just impacted the critical mass of populations around the world this year.
Here are some articles that use this terminology to frame climate change in chronological order:
- Converging Crises: Reality, Fear and Hope? (Susan George, Globalizations, 2010)
- How to report on climate change during a pandemic (Arthur Wyns, International Journalists’ Network, 2020)
- 222 scientists say cascading crises are the biggest threat to the well-being of future generations (Anthony Capon, The Conversation, 2020)
- Coronavirus and climate change: How to deal with converging crises (Dawn Stover, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2020)
- Communicate and engage: building resilience through converging crises (Environmental Analyst, 2020)
- 2020: The Year of the Converging Crises (Mary Annaïse Heglar, Rolling Stone, 2020)
Climate feedback loops
Another often overlooked aspect of climate change that is agreed upon by scientists is the way planetary shifts trigger a domino effect of impacts. This is because, with greater atmospheric warming, the carbon and methane already stored in the earth and in forests get released, causing greater and greater risk for wildlife and humans alike. This essential component of climate science needs greater coverage in communication about the issue.
Check out these resources to understand the science:
- What are climate change feedback loops? (Guardian, 2011)
- When nature harms itself: Five scary climate feedback loops (Irene Banos Ruiz, DW, 2018)
- Why Positive Climate Feedbacks Are So Bad (Dan Lashof, World Resources Institute, 2018)
- Why feedback loops are one of the most troubling parts of global warming (Diana Madson, Yale Climate Connections, 2018)
- How feedback loops are making the climate crisis worse (Climate Reality Project, 2020)
Threat multiplier
In 2013, Sherri Goodman, Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program and Polar Institute, connected the dots between national security threats and climate change by calling it a “threat multiplier.” Using the case of Syria, she pointed out how drought led to vast migrations of the rural poor to urban centers, which contributed to the political upheaval of Syria’s Civil War. This phenomenon can be seen on a global scale as well as people are increasingly uprooted from their homes due to encroaching drought and famine due to crop failure or from rising waters surrounding small island nations in the Pacific Ocean. This poses a national security threat to countries chosen as destinations for migrants. This strain creates a greater likelihood of violent clashes, raising concerns about peace and conflict resolution linked to climate change.
Read the following resources to learn more:
- Climate change is ‘threat multiplier’ (Sherri Goodman and Gordon Sullivan, Politico, 2013)
- Climate Change as a Threat Multiplier for Human Disaster and Conflict (Patrick Huntjens and Katharina Nachbar, The Hague Institute for Global Justice, 2015)
- Climate change recognized as ‘threat multiplier’, UN Security Council debates its impact on peace (UN News, 2019)
- The climate crisis is a threat to national security (The Climate Reality Project, 2019)
Frontline communities
The communities which are directly impacted by the negative impacts of pollution from the extractive, industrialized fossil fuel economy or the effects of climate change such as natural disasters, droughts, food supply disruption, or rising sea levels are considered “frontline communities.” It is well acknowledged that these most often include racially discriminated populations at the local and global levels. By describing the impacted communities as “frontline” communities, we can embrace the unequal distribution of the impacts of climate change with our framing of the issue.
Explore these resources to learn more:
- And The People Shall Lead: Centralizing Frontline Community
Leadership in the Movement Towards a Sustainable Planet (NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, 2013) - Frontline communities will be front and center at the Peoples Climate March (Sierra, 2017)
- Lessons from the Field: Climate views in frontline communities (Climate Access, 2018)
- Climate justice in frontline communities: Here’s how to (really) help (Katherine Egland and Hilton Kelley, The Hill, 2020)
- #FrontlineGreenNewDeal on Twitter
Just transition
When policymakers describe the problem of climate change as a business or a technical issue of energy generation, they miss a critical component of the social dynamics at play. This is why labor leaders adopted the phrase “just transition” to acknowledge the need for an equitable transition of jobs and renewable resources to frontline communities, which have been most impacted by the technological, economic, and sociological shifts occurring as we move away from an economy based on fossil fuels. A just transition has been incorporated into major policy documents from the Paris Climate Agreement to the Green New Deal.
Read how definitions of this term are shaping the policies brought forth by activist and grassroots organizers:
- Resolution concerning sustainable development, decent work
and green jobs (International Labour Organization, 2013) - Just Transition: A Report for the OECD (Just Transition Centre, 2015)
- Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all (International Labour Organization, 2016)
- “Just Transition” — Just What Is It? An analysis of language, strategies and projects (Labor Network for Sustainability, 2016)
- Just Transition: A Framework for Change (Climate Justice Alliance)
Regenerative economy
While the term originated from a former JP Morgan executive, it has also been embraced by the Climate Justice Alliance and reinterpreted through the lens of grassroots organizers. The term has been favored as the alternative to the extractive economy historically rooted in colonization. It encompasses the ideas of democratically redistributed resources of wealth, energy, jobs, and decision making.
Find different definitions of the regenerative economy below:
- Creating A “Regenerative Economy” To Transform Global Finance Into A Force For Good (John Fullerton and Hunter Lovins, Fast Company, 2013)
- Regenerative economics white paper (John Fullerton, Capital Institute, 2015)
- Measuring regenerative economics: 10 principles and measures undergirding systemic economic health (Brian D. Fath, et. al., Global Transitions, 2019)
- A people’s orientation to a regenerative economy (Climate Justice Alliance, 2020)
Let me know which phrases, concepts, or keywords you think are most important for framing the climate crisis in 2020.
Which key phrases or issues would you like to be at the forefront of the climate crisis conversation? Answer in the comments!
