"Unite behind the Science"

13 December 2023, by Franziska Neigenfind

Photo: Stefan Müller/https://flic.kr/p/2hLtQFK, CC BY 2.0

Which narratives do climate movements use – and how can they help transform society? The study addresses plausible climate futures, a central focus area for CLICCS. Pictured here: A Fridays For Future protest before the Federal Chancellery.

Calls to listen to the science can be heard at climate protests around the world. But what exactly does it mean?
In a recent study, Prof. Simone Rödder and Christopher Pavenstädt have, for the first time, shown how climate movements refer to science in their communications. Based on analyses of German and US media, and of the movements’ own documents from the year 2019, they took a closer look at Fridays for Future (FfF), Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Sunrise.

All three invoked science to legitimate themselves and positioned it similarly in their respective narratives: although research has shown that humans are responsible for climate change for some time now, the lack of political action has led to a crisis that threatens life on Earth.

They combine this vision of the future with demands for radical social change. However, whereas Sunrise’s goal is to achieve, through political struggle, effective climate and social policy as part of a Green New Deal, XR and FfF frame the climate as an issue that transcends party lines and calls for consensus. Their invoking science on the one hand, and countless scientists invoking the movements on the other, serves to form a coalition of activists and researchers.

Interestingly enough, these climate movements evince little of the ambivalence seen in past environmental groups, which simultaneously relied on science and distrusted it. Rödder and Pavenstädt believe this could be due to the “IPCC effect”: through its Assessment Reports, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has helped to present a unified scientific front, making it easier to integrate science into political discourse.

Study results available for download:
Rödder S, Pavenstädt, C (2022): ‘Unite behind the Science!’ Climate movements’ use of scientific evidence in narratives on socio-ecological futures.