Loss and Damage action highlighting the plight of vulnerable countries at COP21. Photo credit: SustainUS (sustainus.org)

I recently interviewed Jamie, a young climate justice organizer currently working on local fracking campaigns in the UK.

He said something that struck me. “We write news articles about the economic argument for climate change, about national security. But what about human suffering? That’s the reason we’re fighting for climate justice. Economic justifications for climate change weren’t what made us organizers care about the problem; why do we think it’ll make the public care?”

I thought a lot about what he said. I agree with him – the low cost of solar panels will not be enough to make me care about climate change. And while these economic and political arguments hold true, they aren’t what motivate any of us community organizers to act on climate change, realistically.

I know why I care about climate change: I am concerned for my future. I recognize that the world is one shared humanity, and that suffering that affects one of us will hurt all of us. My heart aches with the constant reminder of those who suffer from climate change.

On the other hand, though, we are told not to use doomsday rhetoric when organizing. We are told that negative emotions – fear, pain – deter people. We are told they don’t galvanize anyone to our cause, and elicits avoidance. But have economic arguments gotten the public to care about this problem?

One thing is certain – I’m interested in studying this messaging in more depth when I get back from COP. In the meantime, I’m going to test different framing angles for media pieces I’ll be writing at COP – stay tuned!