As someone who has returned to school after a career in the non-profit world, my experiences informed my choice of research topic. I coordinated a regional network of over fifty environmental non-profit groups for close to ten years, which illustrated for me how environmental groups were not all the same. One thing that stood out was that some groups were very active in promoting renewable energy and climate action while others remained silent on climate change or were uncomfortable with the issue. Among those were naturalist clubs, comprised of birdwatchers and other nature lovers. When I returned to school, my interest turned to why some environmental groups were reluctant to engage in climate action.

In deciding which groups to select for my research, I opted geographically for my home province of Ontario, Canada, thinking that I would be interviewing in person. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, increased the acceptability of doing interviews by Zoom. I was relieved about not having to travel, and excited about the possibility of reaching all parts of the rather large province.

My next decision was type of group. Naturalist clubs were my starting point, based on my previous work and personal experience. I had joined a naturalist club and noticed that they never talked about climate change. I had also read that members of the Audubon Society in the United States tended to distance themselves from the label of ‘environmentalist’ (Cherry 2019), so I wanted to explore that.

Naturalists, on their own, seemed somewhat limited, so I then asked myself: What groups are out in nature, like naturalists, who could possibly notice the effects of climate change? Hiking clubs were an obvious choice. I heard in a webinar that cross-country skiers were very concerned about climate change because of the shorter winters and less consistent snow cover (Vatovec 2022), so I added them to compare with hikers. Another comparison could be made with conservation and preservation groups that engaged volunteers in tree planting and invasive species removal. With some hesitation, I included hunting and fishing clubs, having heard that they were avid conservationists but expecting that I might run into some climate change denial.

What I found

I conducted 32 interviews between May 2023 and January 2024, randomly picking groups of each type from across the province. I had great success getting interviews from those I contacted, with the exception of hunting and fishing groups. There I had very limited success. It was obvious that there was some self-selection happening, probably due to including ‘climate change’ in my invitation for an interview.

Sure enough, almost all of my interviewees noticed effects of climate change. Many talked about new species moving into the area, like ticks. I heard a couple of stories about Lyme disease. The few hunting and fishing folks I talked with mentioned the northward migration of white-tailed deer affecting the moose further north and the warming streams threatening cold-water fish species.

My project came at an interesting time. In June 2023, just after I’d started the interviews, Canada experienced some really bad wildfires and southern Ontario was blanketed in smoke for days. Not surprisingly, some of the interviewees listed the smoke as evidence of climate change, in addition to droughts, floods, and other weather effects.

I then asked people how they felt about climate change. Worry was mentioned more than anything else. The cross-country skiers, in particular, were really worried about the future of their sport. Many others worried about their children’s or grandchildren’s future.

Only three people expressed any skepticism about climate change. One was a young woman who spent a lot of time on social media and shared conspiracy theories with me. The other two were older hikers. Unlike naturalists, who are by definition interested in nature, hikers often have reasons other than nature appreciation for being hikers.

Why this matters

Since the pandemic, the cost of living has become the top issue for Canadians (Angus Reid Institute 2024). With populist rhetoric creating divisions over climate change, many people don’t realize that climate change is still a high priority for the majority of Canadians (Sheppard 2024).

The groups I’m interested in are primarily social clubs. Their members go on walks together. They work side-by-side on volunteer projects. They attend meetings and social events together. There are lots of opportunities for conversation, but many of these people are reluctant to talk about climate change. One of the reasons is fear that their opinions are not in sync with the opinions of others (Geiger and Swim 2016).

Research has shown that talking with family and friends about climate change increases the realization that others care about the issue (Goldberg et al. 2019). It also increases awareness about climate change and the possibility of climate action. If we all stay silent on climate change, we might think we’re the only one who cares and then nothing gets done.

The groups I interviewed represent a middle portion of the population who are neither climate activists nor climate deniers. They see evidence of climate change in their activities. Most are concerned and some are very concerned about climate change. Drawing attention to common concerns could increase climate change conversations and lead to more action on climate change.

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References

Angus Reid Institute. Canadians feeling the financial heat this summer as housing pain intensifies; few see prices for essentials falling. Blog. (2024, July 9). (https://angusreid.org/economic-outlook-canada-summer-2024/).

Cherry, E. “Not an environmentalist”: strategic centrism, cultural stereotypes, and disidentification. Sociological Perspectives 62(5), 755–772 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1177/0731121419859297

Geiger, N. & Swim, J. K. Climate of silence: pluralistic ignorance as a barrier to climate change discussion. J Environ Psychol 47, 79–90 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.05.002

Goldberg, M. H., van der Linden, S., Maibach, E. & Leiserowitz, A. Discussing global warming leads to greater acceptance of climate science. PNAS 116(30), 14804–14805 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1906589116

Sheppard, E. Public concern about climate change drops 14-points since last year. Why? Abacus Data. (2024, October 4). (https://abacusdata.ca/from-climate-action-to-immediate-relief/).

Vatovec, C. Saving snow: How the Nordic ski community is navigating climate change. Presented at the ISA/ASA joint online conference, Navigating Uncertainty. (2022, October 14).