environmental communication
Environmental communication is the dissemination of information and the implementation of communication practices that are related to the environment. In the beginning, environmental communication was a narrow area of communication; however, nowadays, it is a broad field that includes research and practices regarding how different actors (e.g., institutions, states, people) interact with regard to topics related to the environment and how cultural products influence society toward environmental issues. As a result, environmental communication is complex, involving verbal, nonverbal, personal, interpersonal, and visual communication.
Due to global environmental issues such as climate change, new communication initiatives to promote environmental policies and affairs have emerged. Groups such as international organizations, states, and the United Nations (UN) use such initiatives in an attempt to change the way individuals think about the environment.
This entry traces the evolution of environmental communication and its subfields of study. In addition, it explores several important environmental problems of todayâs society and reveals correlations among companies, mass communications, new technologies, and the public.
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From the Beginning of Environmental Communication to the Present Day
Environmental communication as a field began in the United States around the 1980s. It is related to rhetorical theory, as the pioneer researchers in the field implemented rhetorical practices to raise environmental awareness and to investigate environmental organizations as well as the tensions surrounding environmental topics such as endangered species, forests, and nature in general.
Many scholars credit Christine Oravecâs 1981 article âJohn Muir, Yosemite, and the Sublime Response: A Study in the Rhetoric of Preservationismâ as the first study in this field. Not only did Oravecâs study attract the interest of the scientific community, but also it broadened environmental communication as scientists began to examine the role of media products, the consequences of human activities in relation to the environment, and the risks of public health. In addition, studies that focused on the public relations strategies of important environmental events such as the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster were conducted.
Today, the field of environmental communication is recognized by many prominent scholarly journalism and communication associations. One such organization that aims to promote the field of environmental communication is the International Environmental Communication Association, which was founded in 2011. Throughout the world, numerous associations and organizations focus on promoting environmental communication. Even transnational state organizations and nations take actions in favor of the environment and raise awareness about environmental issues. For instance, in 2013, the European Commission released the EU Adaptation Strategy regarding climate change. This strategy provided members of the European Union objectives in order to become more resilient to climate change. Moreover, during the last month of 2015, 196 members of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change agreed to accept the so-called Paris Agreement. Its main goal was to address global warming by limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels. Although the agreement has been characterized as a breakthrough for environmental issues, to date, there is no clear evidence of its success. Lastly, at the end of 2015, the General Assembly of the UN adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with some of the 17 sustainable development goals aimed at improving the environment.
Environmental Communication Subfields
As mentioned earlier, environmental communication is a broad field that includes many topics and aspects. However, there are seven main subfields within it. One is environmental rhetoric, which is part of rhetorical theory. Environmental rhetoric explores the ways speech and language are used to explain the concept of nature and the environment to the public. In addition, it deals with persuasion strategies that individuals, communities, and organizations use to support their environmental actions. Consequently, one of its main goals is to understand the shaping of public opinion toward nature by investigating symbols and ideologies.
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The second subfield is citizen participation, primarily the actions citizens take in support of the environment. Studies have shown that citizens can have a crucial impact on environmental policies, even though the public faces challenges in accessing environmental information. Although there are incidents in which citizensâ involvement in decision-making was not successful, there have been some quite impactful movements. For example, the fossil fuel divestment movement, according to some scholars, has been one of the most popular movements for changing the fossil fuel industry and addressing climate change. The movementâs first conference took place at Swarthmore College in 2010, and in 2015, at the 21st Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris, the fossil fuel divestment movement obtained more than $3.4 trillion divestment commitments from companies, universities, and institutions.
Media products and journalism regarding the environment is another important area of environmental communication. This subfield sheds light on the way media products and the journalism profession cover and interpret information regarding the environment. In general, events that are unusual or present a high risk for the public receive intensive media coverage. When selecting and writing news stories, journalists tend to focus on conflict, human interest, prominence, significance, and timeliness. However, the public relies on news outlets to present and highlight various aspects and opinions for and against environmental issues, so biased information or story selection can also influence the public. Several researchers have investigated the media frames of environmental news and events, demonstrating the ways news outlets and news reports influence the public and public opinion.
This subfield is also linked with another area of environmental communication: advertising or the way the environment is presented in advertising campaigns and cultural products such as films, television programs, and music. Like the news, advertising and cultural products can shape public opinion with regard to environmental issues. Many companies have developed programs and campaigns with the intent to provoke social change toward environmental issues. For example, some multinational corporations aligned with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and adopted campaigns such as climate champions.
The expansion of environmental studies throughout several other disciplines has revealed that the political compromises and achievements needed to promote more effectively universal environmental goals are lacking. Thus, advocacy and engaging the publicâs support for specific environment policies is another field of environmental communication. Again, these practices aim to support and change the perceptions of citizens toward the environment in order to deal effectively with issues such as global warming and the greenhouse effect. For example, a well-known initiative for raising awareness of the environment began in 2007 by the World Wildlife Fund, called Earth Hour. This event, which takes place from 8:30 to 9:30 pm on a particular day each year, involves the participants (e.g., communities, individuals, businesses) turning off all lights and electrical devices for the designated hour so as to demonstrate their willingness to protect the planet. Moreover, throughout the years, several worldwide multinational companies such as IKEA, H&M, and ZARA have supported this advocacy campaign.
Another subfield of environmental communication is related to conflict resolution and cooperation toward solving environmental issues. In this area, the communication practices aim to promote the collaboration of various agents (e.g., groups, communities, stakeholders) to dissolve conflicts in the field and facilitate compromises. These kinds of procedures were useful with issues such as deforestation, which according to several studies, is one of the most significant issues affecting climate change.
The last main subfield of environmental communication is risk communication and the role of science in protecting the environment. This area focuses on questions such as, âWhat is the contribution of science and scientists in supporting the environment?â and âHow can they help in changing the perspectives of the public toward this topic?â Moreover, it includes ensuring that the dissemination of information regarding hazardous environmental concerns (e.g., water and air pollution) receives serious scientific consideration in order to identify how the affected population can be effectively informed and take action.
New Technologies and Environmental Communication
The Internet and related technological advancements have become an integral part of daily life in many areas of the world. However, these new technologies can also cause environmental problems because they consume energy. In addition, as time passes, people tend to use daily even more devices (e.g., mobile devices, smartphones, computer tablets). Thus, recent research regarding environmental communication has focused on technologies. In addition, new ways of reducing their effect on the environment have been developed. For example, the concept of green websites describes websites that operate by consuming renewable sources or include environmentally friendly operation policies. Related practices include green computing and green IT (e.g., energy-efficient computing, design for environmental sustainability, data center design, layout, power management, location, server virtualization, and responsible disposal and recycling), which aim to minimize power consumptions as well as carbon footprints. For example, some universities around the world have established environmentally friendly practices. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the pioneering universities that has established green policies to reduce power consumption throughout its campus.
The original version of this article was published by SAGE Publications in The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society.