The impact on the vulnerable is a priority often mentioned in climate action reports and plans. Climate leaders know that every tonne of greenhouse gas emitted increases the intensity, frequency, and duration of climate impacts (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2021), and thereby human suffering. There are multiple climate action frameworks from social and physical science that “identif[y] opportunities for transformative action which are effective, feasible, just and equitable” (Lee et al., 2023). Now is the time to apply them. But there has been a frustrating lack of effective measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, so suffering continues. What or who is holding us back from taking climate action?
Understandably, as communities mop up from disasters, awareness is growing about the need to increase climate adaptation measures (Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), 2022). Unfortunately, increased support for adaptation has not translated into support for emissions reductions (Lavery, 2022). Therefore, without support for emissions reduction, is transformational action possible?
As it stands, incremental change has failed to do enough to reduce emissions and slow the rate of change or increase the resiliency of vulnerable communities (Eichinger, 2019, Uitto, 2022). Transformative adaptation is a way to deal with the multiple crises communities face (Fedele, 2019). It is a way to restore ecological systems while reducing the underlying causes of vulnerability to create resilient and sustainable communities (Fedele et al., 2019). Fedele et al. point out there are many barriers to implementing transformative adaptation. Barriers include challenging ones, such as different visions of the future and actors benefiting from the status quo. To achieve transformational change that will rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, stewarding the ecosystems for the benefit of ALL will require broad consensus about the problem and the solution (Eichinger, 2019, Uitto, 2022).
At this point, surveys indicate Canada is far from a broad consensus (Lavery, 2022). Canadians’ support for implementing measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ranks near the bottom of 34 countries surveyed by Ipsos. Although “younger age groups and women were more likely to back the proposals” (Sanyam Sethi, as reported by Lavery, 2022), their support is still below the global average. Climate communications researchers similarly find that women are more concerned and “much more likely to support climate action” (Bennet et al., 2021, p. 4.).
In their report, Ipsos Public Affairs (Sethi, 2022) highlighted the need for an effective education and communication campaign to increase Canadians’ support of the climate change policies listed in Table 1. If the Canadian government implements such a campaign, who should they target to achieve a broad consensus? Based on the Ipsos poll (see Table 1) and climate communications research, men have the lowest support for climate action (Bennett et al., 2021 & Sethi, 2022). Should they be targeted?
Interestingly, men dominate the industries responsible for climate change and the political arena responsible for implementing climate policies (Nagel & Lies, 2022). Men are “captains of industry and the champions of carbon consumption” (Osborne, 2022, p. 2). If men are also doubtful or dismissive (see Table 2) and “completely unconcerned and strongly opposed to policy responses” (Maibach, 2011, p. 16), their disproportionate amount of power is of concern. Gender inequality is not just in industry but also politics. Men dominate politics and can be “motivated by powerful and wealthy interests who tend not to lobby for climate justice” (Nagel & Lies, 2022, p. 3). This is demonstrated by ‘Big Oil’ remaining undeterred and unembarrassed by the exposure of its role in climate denial. These companies continue to lobby the government and politicians intensively to minimize climate action. Oil companies’ influence has left politicians squabbling and ineffective rather than working on climate change. If the politicians cannot stand up to the mostly male ‘Big Oil’ executives, who will? Is it left to activists like Mary Heglar, who target greenwashing online “with wit and memes” (Telford, 2021, p. 1), to sway opinion?
Another aspect to consider is not just the specific gender of the actor but the predominance of masculinity embedded in political and corporate institutions, particularly those associated with the fossil fuel industry. However, even “climate scientists …tend to focus on physical science, not the human dimensions of climate change” (Masood, 2021, as cited by Nagel & Lies, 2022, p. 3). The need to engineer solutions and control nature is a predominately masculine desire leading to expensive technical solutions that prop up the status quo, such as carbon capture and storage (Nagel & Lies, 2022). Similarly, climate science modelling has made advances in understanding the physical aspects of climate change. Still, there is not a similar understanding of climate change’s impacts on “social inequalities or human physiology, psychology, and wellbeing” (Nagel & Lies, 2022, p.3).
Masculinity is also identified by social economist Julie Nelson in her essay Economics for (and by) Humans (2022) as impacting mainstream economics. She argues that mainstream economics is “profoundly gendered” (p. 271) and built around masculine characteristics such as markets, self-interest and competition and tends to reject those that are deemed feminine such as other-interest, cooperation, or qualitative analysis. Mainstream economics accepts that profit maximization is the primary goal. There is little concern for ethics which has had unfortunate effects given the economists’ knowledge is rarely questioned (Nelson, 2022). Ignoring ethics and narrowly focusing on economic objectives has contributed to rapid growth in inequality and insufficient effort to combat climate change. As an antidote, Nelson argues that “in the service of survival and flourishing” (p. 280), economists must “help people see that we are all part of a complex social economy” and can take an ‘all hands-on deck’ attitude towards addressing the world’s pressing problems”(p. 279 & 280).
To help people work toward a livable future, climate change communication research has found that it is important to provide a vision that demonstrates the benefits of a zero-emissions and biodiverse world (Bennett et al., 2021). Do men beholden to fossil fuel see themselves in this vision? Are zero emissions transportation choices or lifestyle (veganism, for example) threatening masculinity? Interestingly, researchers Brough et al. (2016) have found that sustainable behaviours and products have a “green-feminine stereotype” (p. 568). The stereotype sufficiently threatens some men’s masculinity that it prompts opposite behaviour. However, the researchers also found that “the identity signalled by a particular product or behaviour can change when a new social group identifies with it” (Berger and Rand, 2008, cited in Brough et al., 2016, p. 580). Also, “that masculine branding could be an effective strategy for altering the feminine association attached to green products and actions” (Brough et al., 2016, p. 580). This highlights a key point for climate leaders working on transformational adaptation to consider how all audiences receive messaging or engagement efforts. It is important to remember that changing people’s minds is more complicated than providing facts (McRaney, 2022).
In his book, How Minds Change (2022), author David McRaney dives into why people develop strong beliefs, and how their minds can change. He writes, “no status quo is eternal. Every system occasionally grows fragile. The key to changing a nation, or a planet is persistence” (McRaney, 2022, p. 288). He contends that anyone can “start striking at the status quo” (p. 288). Each of our efforts is part of the collective action that will inevitably flip the system. He found effective techniques such as Street Epistemology encourages people to think about their thinking process rather than challenging them on what they think or believe. Through respectful conversations, actors evaluate “the merits of their own arguments” (McRaney, 2022, p. 227). If the government wants to change the status quo, then there must be conversations with those that do not support climate action. An awareness campaign on its own will not be enough.
If transformative adaptation is going to be a climate action solution, then men who oppose climate action must be engaged. Based on David McRaney’s research, this could mean through conversations or other means to get men opposed to climate action thinking about how they think and act and its impact. Men that have already adopted a green, climate-action lifestyle are the best ones to deliver the message or demonstrate the behaviour needed for a sustainable future. “Women’s skills at negotiation and insights into the human dimensions of climate change” (Nagel & Lies, 2022, p. 4) are well suited for leading transformative adaptation.
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