Becoming Climate-Literate in a Climate-Anxious World

We’re first in a lot of things. Hiding between the accolades and world records, one thing we shouldn’t be proud of is that we’re on track to blaze past a crucial climate target within eight years: keeping the rise in temperatures at or under 1.5C. Whether humanity can change course after decades of inaction is largely a question of collective resolve.

This collective action should be directly targeted at the 100 global companies that are responsible for 71% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions over the last three decades. While countless companies have set lofty climate targets and dedicate abysmal pages to “learn more,” the unsettling reality is the lack of structure in place to monitor these goals. Companies are profit-makers at their core (despite their best copywriting efforts), and their progress is unlikely to mobilize without clear policy that incentivizes good behavior and/or punishes the bad. Without the financial incentive and industry pressures, we won’t act fast enough. No out-of-home campaign, digital black out, etc. is going to motivate us fast enough.

Corporations exist because they’ve alleviated an audience tension, but they’ve also taken immensely from the planet. Governments, businesses, and individuals (but not at the climate-anxiety-induced expense of corporations offloading their guilt onto us) must urgently leave behind the age of fossil fuels or face wrath of catastrophic climate consequences. While it’s difficult to not become “dark elli” in these dismal times, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it’s still possible—and even economically viable—for nations to curb carbon pollution on the scale that’s required. We must expedite our efforts.

We’ve seen some governmental pressure in years past. When Obama was in office, he pursued comprehensive climate legislation that would have capped companies’ emissions, but it failed after a prominent group of businesses condemned it. Fortunately, we slowly began to witness a growing trend of individual businesses prioritizing ESG issues, and CEOs were coming to understand the societal pressures to take action. The year was 2015, the Paris Agreement was formally signed, and things were looking up—until one year later when Trump began his intense rollback of the country’s climate commitments. While Biden has made considerable strides to recenter our focus on climate (including working with activists to address the inequalities worsened by climate change and putting climate at the center of “Build Back Better”), we still are at the expense of businesses refusing to act fast enough and come together for the sake of our survival.

So what do we do?

A loaded question, and frankly one I often find myself pushing deep into the back of my mind if I dwell on it for too long. While this list is far from exhaustive, I hope it can help pique interest or ameliorate a bit of tension if only for the interim. Let’s say it together: The onus is not on the consumer. But we can become more informed and attuned to our surroundings.

A small list of ways to boost climate literacy and mitigate climate anxiety:

• Start asking yourself why: Why do more BIPOC neighborhoods exist near factories, highways, pipelines, and other things that affect the environment and public health? Environmental redlining. Why are Black people more likely to die from asthma than other racial/ethnic groups? Environmental racism. While the interconnectedness of our crises—economic, social, political, health, environmental—is scientifically proven, the general awareness and actions necessary to mitigate these issues are not.

• Become an ad skeptic: Paltering is when a company creates a misleading impression of itself and its climate efforts. Big oil loves to do it (and many advertising ethics panels will overlook it). Exxon, for example, placed an ad in The Daily, overestimating their impact on reducing climate change while they continue to invest heavily in fossil fuels.

• Look into climate commitments + track their follow-through: While there’s no single place to track how brands are making progress toward their climate goals, Science Based Targets Initiative provides a summary of over 2,000 companies’ status regarding their commitment or targets. Carbon Disclosure Project has also evaluated 200+ companies on whether or not they have actions in places to tackle a variety of environmental issues, such as climate change, water risk, and deforestation. Quartz also recently compiled a robust review on how the biggest companies are tracking against reducing their carbon emissions (but unfortunately there’s no universal site, and companies still don’t reliably publish data on climate risks or set targets to reduce them).

• Follow the money: A bit tedious, but OpenSecrets allows you to track the flow of money in politics. Around the height of the presidential election in 2020, Bloomberg analyzed political donations from companies and the candidates' records on climate issues.

• And internet troll, if you’re feeling dicey. A couple of my favorite greentrollers include:

  • Mary Annaïse Heglar (Hot Take)

  • Amy Westervelt (Hot Take)

  • Emily Atkin (Heated)

  • Jamie Margolin (Zero Hour)

  • Abbey Dufoe (EXXONKNEWS)

There’s no more time to run with the “younger generations will save our future planet” messaging. Yes, the changemakers will continue to reign, but not at the expense of the impact of communities crumbling around us in real time. Don’t let sustainability be an afterthought (e.g., developing in the web3 without proper representation/DEI commitments), or else history will continue to repeat itself.

We can no longer accept ignorance on the impact of climate change. We’re seeing adverse effects every single day, from drastic temperature shifts and natural disasters, to disproportionate access to safe drinking water and clean air. A friendly reminder that still remains true: if you’re not seeing how climate change impacts your life, you’re likely in an extremely privileged position. While my hope is one day the somber tone of these annual reflections will shift, until then, I’ll remain consistently unhinged.

Sources: All We Can Save; BBC; Bloomberg; Green Matters; Heated; Quartz; TIME; Washington Post