When an organization or an individual want to create a correct impression of their work, the use of communication is essential. Communication is often the tool that keeps together teams, opens up new pathways the better tomorrow. As a whole, communication can include how an entity interacts with the press, what types of messages it produces, and how its actions affect the planet. For the purposes of this work, the work of the EDF will be examined. The Environmental Defense Fund is an organization working to create awareness, research and resources to the effort of safeguarding the planet. With an audience of over three million supporters, it operates efficiently and effectively. There are a number of communication channels the organization uses, including their website, press releases and research.
On their website, the organization claims responsibility over a number of organized change initiatives, and also places resources that allow the population to be more informed. In particular, much of the messaging is designed to encourage local action and the participation of people within the community. For example, there is an article on the subject of air pollution and gas emissions on the EDF website. It outlines the problems associated with widespread emissions, while also working to highlight the importance of correct advocacy to counteract emissions. It is an open call to action, one that is finds it necessary to promote a limited pollution for a range of industries. In order to achieve this goal, then, their article on the subject ends with a number of links for local advocacy and organizations that are working to bring more change in that particular area of the US (Environmental Defense Fund, 2020b). As an entity that lead discussion of climate change, this approach is helpful in informing the public and making them act to protect the environment. Specifically, such a solution for communication recognizes the power of the worldwide web as a tool of connecting with the public, and chooses to utilize it in a straightforward and positive manner.
In addition to their work of informing others, the EDF was also directly responsible for a number of policy changes that have positively impacted the environment. Particularly, they use the presence of scientifically-inclined people in their ranks to publish policy recommendation papers on a number of issues (Environmental Defense Fund, 2020). Such works go in detail about a specific issue, providing background on its significance, before outlining potential solutions and systematic approaches to changing the status quo. This approach effectively takes advantage of the organization’s ability to contribute to the general pool of knowledge by addressing their works directly to entities like councils and other relevant government structures.
Narratives about the Environment
Using their resources, the organization conducts research in order to protect the environment. Its considerations in this process mirror the scientific discoveries of today and work to more effectively use them for the good of humanity. Employing a team of experts on a variety of individual subjects, the organization is able to contribute research to many fields at once (Environmental Defense Fund, n.d.). Comparatively, the viewpoint of this organization is far from extreme, instead it could be classified as an industry standard. Recognizing the need to change, while providing community support for environmental efforts. In particular, the Environment Defense Fund puts their research in examining the fields of pollution, climate change, gas emissions, biomass and biodiversity, among other things (Buchholz and Hamburg, 2011). They create narratives focused on the importance of cooperative action, science and research in the field of environmentalism. In the eyes of the organization, the participation of many different kinds of specialists helps it promote its primary agendas and be successful. With their significant presence in the scientific community, the organization also establishes that individual action is not the central concern of protecting the world. Instead, incremental changes should be done at the industrial level, where the use of machinery and heavy pollution present a much bigger threat.
Their largest narrative surrounds the importance of the organization itself in bringing change across the world. Collected on their website are various types of evidence and testimonies of the work EDF has done over the years. Showcasing their impact to the world, the organization seeks to enlist the support of potential readers, and hopefully garner more donations for its causes.
Adherence to Common Environment Narratives
In the field of scientific research and environmental protections, there are a number of central concerns or practices that become inseparable from the movement as a whole. This can occur due to the natural evolution of the field as a whole, or the creation of an evidence based solution to central problems of the sphere. For those working to protect the planet, common talking points and narratives discuss accountability, global climate change, the need for advocacy in individual states, and other technical concerns. The EDF succeeds in present these types of narratives, making them seem legitimate and well-researched. In particular, their emphasis on collective action falls in line with modern recognition of systemic problems, acting as an extension of viewing the world in a interconnected way. Individual action, and personal accountability, have both fallen out of fashion in the recent decades, as more and more people realized the need to bring fundamental change in legislation and organization (European Environment Agency, 2020). When simply changing the way people sort their own waste is not enough, it is necessary to wield narratives on policy change, community involvement and political advocacy to one’s advantage (Center for Social Development, 2018). The ability of the EDF to do such work can be seen as both the recognition of its global influence and scope, and its ability to keep up with the current body of evidence. The policy solutions and recommendation papers the organization produces, similarly, base themselves on concepts of overarching societal change.
Another important way the organization shapes its narrative, one that falls in line with current approaches of other environmental organizations, is the emphasis on people when talking about the environment. This means recognizing that the climate, or animals and plants, are not the only things that will be impacted by negative environmental changes. In particular people and members of marginalized communities will always stay on the brunt end of the issue, experiencing a variety of climate-related issues. Natural disasters wrecking communities, creation of food deserts, disruption of common lifestyles – all of these issues put people that are already struggling in more danger. As such, the values of goals of native communities will always fall in line with the work of honest environmental actors (EDF Climate Corps, 2012). The EDF understands this fact, and seeks to work directly with these communities for their own good.
Reference List
Buchholz, T. and Hamburg, S. (2011). Forest Biomass and Bioenergy: Opportunities and Constraints in the Northeastern United States. [online] Web.
Center for Social Development. (2018). Environment & Social Development. [online] Web.
EDF Climate Corps. (2012). Native Philosophies Unite with EDF Fellow’s Objectives. [online] Web.
Environmental Defense Fund (2020a). Ground-Based Transportation Solutions To Improve Public Health and Fight Climate Change Environmental Defense Fund Recommendations. [online] Web.
Environmental Defense Fund. (2020b). Policies to reduce pollution and protect health. [online] Web.
Environmental Defense Fund. (n.d.). Our science experts. [online] Web.
European Environment Agency (2020). Climate change policies. [online] European Environment Agency. Web.