Climate Action Advocacy: A Primer for SBM Members

James F Sallis, PhD.; Katie Crist, PhD.; & the Climate Change and Health SIG­ (In-Formation) 

Climate change is a current threat to global health that is projected to steadily worsen. Thus, it can be considered a responsibility of health professionals to take individual and collective actions to prepare for and mitigate this threat. The paper on Policy and Advocacy that was part of a 2022 Special Issue of Translational Behavioral Medicine on Climate Change and Health recommended actions to be taken by both SBM as an organization and members as individuals (Mendoza et al., 2022). This brief builds on the paper by providing suggestions for actions SBM members can take to advocate for policies and investments that could reduce the threat of climate change and its health impacts. Although individual efforts to reduce carbon emissions are needed, the most important actions are to build political will for climate-protective policies, such as those developed by the Medical Society Consortium on Climate Change and Health (https://climatehealthaction.org ). SBM is now a member of this Consortium. The two categories of actions covered in this brief are (a) joining and supporting climate organizations and (b) engaging in advocacy.

Joining and Supporting Climate Organizations

There are many national and international non-profit organizations involved in climate advocacy. Joining such organizations increases their political power, and receiving their communications enhances individuals’ knowledge about climate change issues and facilitates further actions. Those with the capacity to donate to organizations beyond membership fees expand organizations’ capacity to advocate and otherwise meet their goals. Rather than recommend specific climate-related organizations, we refer you to websites that independently evaluate the credibility and effectiveness of nonprofits, such as www.charitynavigator.org, www.charitywatch.org, and the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Guide (https://give.org/wise-giving-guide-new ). There are several organizations that are oriented to supporting scientists in their advocacy for climate solutions, such as Union of Concerned Scientists (https://www.ucsusa.org/), More Than Scientists (www.morethanscientists.org), and Second Nature’s Academics for Climate Advocacy Working Group (https://secondnature.org/academics-for-climate/). These organizations can help you quickly and meaningfully engage with advocacy opportunities and grow your advocacy skills through education.  

Engaging in Advocacy

When many people hear “advocacy”, they think it requires setting up meetings and speaking directly with elected officials or their staff. In fact, advocacy can take many forms, with a wide range of effort and time commitment. You can advocate at a local, state, national, or international level. You can advocate on your own or in collaboration with an organization. Your advocacy can be direct or indirect.

Put your writing and verbal skills to use. Direct advocacy could be writing an op-ed or letter to the editor, which advocacy organizations can further elevate through social media. Expand your publication targets to include platforms like The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/us) which seeks to move research findings into the public dialogue. You could communicate with decision makers by email, through social media, or in person. You could give talks to community groups to encourage climate-protecting behaviors and build support for climate policies, provide public testimony at government meetings, or participate in public demonstrations.

Indirect advocacy might consist of integrating climate change behaviors and topics into your research (e.g. adding active transportation as an intervention goal) or studying how to promote engagement on climate issues. You can present at regional, or state conferences hosted by non-profits and advocacy organizations, which would reach an entirely different audience and enhance use of your research in advocacy. Lay summaries of your studies and briefs summarizing research on a specific topic sent to elected officials and their staffs help drive policy discussions.

 Indirect actions could include joining and donating to climate organizations or volunteering to share your expertise on communication and behavior change with climate organizations. This relationship building can lead to new research opportunities on community-based or agency-led initiatives where you can provide support in research design, measurement and evaluation.  Other options are to join SBM’s Climate Change and Health Special Interest Group (in development) or propose climate-related sessions at SBM or other professional conferences. You could speak up for climate change with those in your network and encourage them to get involved in both climate-protecting behaviors and policy advocacy.

Case Study of Local Advocacy

As a case study, we describe our recent local advocacy efforts. The City of San Diego was the first major U.S. city to adopt a legally binding Climate Action Plan (CAP) committed to 100% clean energy. Though well-intended, implementation of the plan has been lacking, with little progress on policy targets. The Climate Action Campaign (CAC; www.climateactioncampaign.org/) was organized as a non-profit to provide advocacy and accountability for implementation and has since worked to secure CAPs in other jurisdictions throughout the County and beyond. We are both involved in two committees. One of us (KC) co-chairs the Public Health Advisory Council (https://www.climateactioncampaign.org/publichealth ) that supports CAC’s campaigns and promotes climate policies focused on health and equity, and is organizing a new Academics As Advocates Committee, a cross-disciplinary, multi-university group of researchers. Both groups work closely with CAC staff who alert members to upcoming advocacy opportunities.

As an example, a meeting of the City’s Environment Committee provided an opportunity to offer testimony on two agenda items directly related to the Climate Action Plan. We only had one minute each to speak to each agenda topic, so we had to be prepared and succinct. The pandemic has made participation in public meetings more achievable, with virtual attendance options having become the norm. One of us testified in-person, and the other testified virtually. We followed up on one agenda item by sending resources afterward to the City’s Fiscal & Policy Analyst, and that resulted in a zoom call during which the analyst welcomed our input and relevant research findings. We found the experience positive and productive. When you testify at a meeting like this, you see the wide range of approaches and styles, from expressing angry opposition, to representing a specific community’s concerns, to providing evidence-based input. We would argue there is never enough evidence-based input, which is why it is important for more people like SBM members to become actively engaged.

This example illustrates the value of working with existing organizations with advocacy expertise. Staff of these organizations stay informed about the status of the policy making process and understand the value of timely and relevant input from credible sources. They told us about the opportunity that we would otherwise have missed, and we were able to provide brief but meaningful input. As expert advocates, CAC’s staff provided simple but vital advice on how to approach advocacy opportunities. First, tell who you are and why you care about the topic. Second, explain briefly why you are the right person to speak on this issue. Third, be honest and direct about what you are asking them to do. In our example, we were asking that the City include economic co-benefits of activity-friendly design (not just costs to implement) in their analyses, prioritize active transportation over electric vehicles to achieve public health and equity  goals (in addition to emission reduction), and regularly evaluate policies and investments for impact.

Climate Change Is Widening Inequities

As was made clear in the Climate Policy and Advocacy paper (Mendoza et al., 2022), climate change is already a health equity challenge. The countries already suffering the worst negative consequences typically have contributed very little to worldwide carbon emissions. Within most countries, including the United States, those most vulnerable to climate-change-driven extreme weather are those who have been targeted for marginalization. Thus, it is a logical extension of your research or service work with marginalized communities to get involved in activities to mitigate the consequences of climate change in these communities. In the paper we urge health professionals and organizations to empower and support community members to get engaged in advocacy for the purpose of benefitting their own communities, because a large portion of those benefits will be in the domains of physical and mental health and well-being.

Fitting Advocacy Into Your Work and Life

Most of our days are already full, with career demands, family responsibilities, maintaining healthy behaviors, and finding time for joy. So, it is hard to imagine how to add occasional advocacy to the mix. If you are aware of the accelerating pace of weather disasters, their worsening health impacts, the special vulnerabilities of already-marginalized communities, and the potential to at least slow down the damage, then you are probably experiencing some desire to make a positive contribution to the situation. Again, there is a consensus that the most important strategy is to build public support for policy changes (https://climatehealthaction.org). If you want to find ways of getting involved, you can. SBM’s Climate Change and Health SIG (in-formation) will continue to encourage and enable members to take action that is both realistic for each member’s situation and meaningful. We recommend starting small by joining an organization or group (such as the Climate Change and Health SIG (in-formation)) and identifying a specific action that is comfortable for you in terms of the content and time required.

Reference:

Mendoza-Vasconez, A.S., McLaughlin, E., Sallis, J.F., Maibach, E., Epel, E., Bennett, G., Nogueira, L., Thayer, J., and Dietz, W.H. (2022). Advocacy to support climate and health policies: Recommended actions for the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 12(4), 535-542. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibac028

Dr. Sallis is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health at University of California San Diego and Past-President of SBM. Dr. Crist is Assistant Project Scientist in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at University of California San Diego.