Why is Environmental Advocacy Important?

• Category: Learning Resources
• Date 30-01-2023

In a new report released by the UN on January 9^th, 2023, it was reported that the Ozone layer is healing and on track to recover within four decades. This is due to effective environmental treaties which banned nearly 99% of chemicals that were harmful to the environment and have encouraged sustainable development to prevent further environmental damage.

In his statement, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said, “Ozone action sets a precedent for climate action. Our success in phasing out ozone-eating chemicals shows us what can be and must be done – as a matter of urgency – to transition away from fossil fuels, reduce greenhouse gases, and so limit temperature increases.”

All these have been achieved due to the efforts of environmental advocates all over the world that have dedicated their lives to improving the eco-system. In this article, we will teach you how you can advocate for the environment around you both locally and nationally.

What is Environmental Advocacy?

Environmental advocacy is a set of activities aimed at protecting the environment by influencing the government and relevant stakeholders to make development decisions that are sustainable for the environment and eco-system.

The main driving force in influencing environmental-centered decisions is people's power. A people united and acting together to support a campaign goal can overcome the financial and political power of those seeking to damage the environment.

Who can Advocate for the Environment?

Anyone can advocate for the environment. One does not have to be a professional campaigner to protect their home, business, or community from environmental damage. An effective environmental advocacy campaign can protect the environment in ways such as:

• Stops, reduces, and manages harmful developmental practices on the environment such as construction activities in wildlife migration corridors and the release of harmful chemicals into water bodies
• Creation of legislation that limits environmental impact
• Protects the natural habitats of wildlife e.g., marine parks and national parks
• Raises community awareness of environmental protection and influences people to take advocacy actions
• Judicial action to ensure the government abides by existing environmental laws and policies
• Civil disobedience and picketing when all else fails.

 

While protective measures against degradation work, successful environmental advocacy pertains to much more than protection. To do this, there are several methods and tools that a good environmental advocate can use.

Methods and Tools for Environmental Advocacy

Effective environmental advocacy can be done through the following tools and means:

1. Capacity building and public education
2. Awareness creation/sensitization
3. Mobilization for mass action
4. Building alliances and networking
5. Dialogue/Debates
6. Lobbying and negotiations
7. Opinion forming through media

Skills for Environmental Advocacy

Just like any other campaign, environmental advocacy requires a certain level of skill set to be successfully done. We have outlined a few of these for budding ecological advocates.

1. Analytical skills – one should be able to analyze and understand the issue being advocated for or against

2. Communication skills – one should be able to effectively inform on the issue and the required strategy

3. Leadership and coordination skills are necessary to coordinate the activities and strategies aimed at achieving the goal

4. Listening skills – to give audience to others on the best methods and other issues being discussed

 

Planning Advocacy

Good and effective environmental advocacy is dependent on well-organized actions. It is therefore necessary to identify the actions and plan them systematically to achieve the desired goals. To effectively plan for an environmental advocacy campaign, you will need to follow the steps highlighted below:

Steps in Planning a Good Environmental Advocacy plan

When planning a good environmental advocacy plan, these are the steps you should follow:

Step 1: Identify the Issue

You must identify the most important issues that need attention and find out the best actions and decisions that can solve the environmental problems being experienced. One should also justify whether the time to tackle the problem is right and know which issues shall need prioritization.

You can use the checkbox below to diagnose the issue

• What are your views on the issue?
• Why are you concerned about the issue?
• What is your agenda?
• What other views are there on the issue?
• Have you considered all parties of interest?
• Whose interests are you serving?

 

Step 2: contextualize the issue

To properly contextualize an environmental concern, you will need to gather as much information on it as possible. This might be done through:

• Collecting information on the environmental concern both nationally and locally
• Finding out examples and comparisons nationally, regionally, and internationally
• Familiarizing oneself with current policy, principles, and guidelines
• Finding precedents set in other contexts

When you have ticked all the boxes up to this stage, you shall be able to effectively design your advocacy focus, goals, and targets.

Step 3:  identify the vision and goals of your campaign

The first question a good environmental advocate should ask themselves is whether they still hold the same position and goals as they had when they set out on an environmental advocacy journey. They shall then proceed to:

1. Establish non-negotiable/bottom lines in their plan.

Identify your goals clearly with a focus on small achievable steps.  To get through this stage, there are some questions that an environmental advocate shall need to get through to address the various levels of needed goals. These include:

1. What are the transformational goals you want to achieve?

These are goals aimed at transforming the inequitable structure and power relations of society related to the issue/problem

2. What specific actions, decisions or changes do we want in the long term?

These are actions that would best address the basic cause of the problem and how they will be able to maintain their gains if they succeed. For instance:

1. On a policy/political dimension, what specific changes do we want in a policy, law, program, or behavior?
2. On a civil society dimension, do we want to strengthen community groups as a result of our advocacy to sustain our gains?
3. On a democratic dimension, how do we plan to increase political space, participation, and legitimacy of civil society with or through advocacy efforts?

 

3. What are your intermediate goals? What constitutes victory?

Several indicators can be used to show the effectiveness of an advocacy effort. Such as how it:

• Wins concrete improvements in people’s lives
• Alters the relations of power
• Gives people a sense of their power and confidence
• Builds strong organizations that have relations of power more equitable and democratic
• Improves alliances between colleague organizations
• Incorporates political awareness and citizen advocacy skills
• Increases citizen access to policy making

 

4. What short-term or partial victories can we win as steps toward our long-term and transformational goals?

While working on the long-term goals, you will need short-term goals which will act both as indicators of the effectiveness of your campaign and motivators for the team to work harder and focus on the long-term goals.

Step 4: identify the players

It is important to identify and analyze stakeholders who have an interest in the outcome of the advocacy efforts. Some questions may provide a guide to identifying and analyzing key stakeholders. The answers also help the groups to assess who has the power to grant them what they want or, conversely, to stop them and who can join them to expand their power and clout, thus increasing their likelihood of success.

There are different players that an environmental advocate should pay attention to. They are highlighted below:

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Advocacy Targets Group:

These are the people who a group will want to influence to gain their support for the group’s goals. They can be classified as primary or secondary. Primary targets are those that have direct power to give groups what they want - they can be members of parliament, heads of governmental agencies and departments, or county heads; secondary targets are those who have power or influence over those who have the direct power such as members of the media, prominent religious leaders or high-level government officials.

While most advocacy strategies target institutions, it is important to remember that decisions are made by specific individuals or groups of individuals. It is therefore prudent to identify particular individuals at the local, county, national, regional, and international levels and tailor strategies and tactics more effectively.

To effectively identify and assess the primary targets, you can use the following to guide you:

• Institutions that have the authority to grant you what you want
• Individuals in the institution(s) that have the power to give you what you want
• The power and influence that you have over them
• How best they can be influenced?

Regarding secondary targets:

• Who influenced the people with the power to give us what we want?
• What power or influence do you have over them?
• How best can they be influenced?
  1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. Opposition target groups

These are people who are the opponents on an advocacy issue and have the power and want to stop you from reaching your advocacy goal. For an advocacy campaign to be successful, you must be able to identify and analyze the power of your opposition and develop tactics to counter its power and influence. You must however weigh the risks of directly engaging with the opposition to achieve your desired goals. In specific political contexts, the best approach may be to not engage your opponent but to instead develop a protective or defensive strategy that may involve, for example, cultivating powerful international allies.

Organization of community group members or constituents

In developing strategies, it is helpful to analyze your strengths, weaknesses, and power, and those of your constituents. Constituents are those people who are concerned about a problem and have a relationship with an organization of interest. This includes people in the broader society who may not suffer the problem themselves but care about the outcome and want to work for change. In building strategies and long-lasting groups, it is helpful to assess the power and commitment of these individuals as well as others who might be concerned about the problem and potentially could join the organization or campaign

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 1. 3. Allies

Allies are those people and groups who have enough of a stake or interest in an organization’s issue to join with it in an alliance or coalition. Strong accountable alliances are usually the most effective way to win policy victories as they can muster the clout and power necessary for change. Allies are used in different ways and have different functions depending on who they are and their particular sphere of influence. Some, for example, may have good contacts with the media; others may have access to an important politician.

Step 5: What strategic activities/tactics will you use to achieve your goals?

Tactics are steps for carrying out the overall strategy - the specific things that you and your allies can do to put pressure on your targets.

To develop effective strategies, there is a need to design specific activities that will be aimed at influencing the different advocacy targets.

1. The decision-makers and power holders who can grant the community what it wants
2. Those who have the power to influence the decision-makers

It is also important to assess tactics that the group can best use to make its power felt and reach its advocacy goals. In the case of opposition targets, you need to select tactics that will diminish the opponent’s ability to prevent the group from achieving its objectives. As part of the strategy of development, groups also need to identify appropriate tactics and activities that will involve, strengthen and mobilize their members and allies so that their power and energy can grow and be sustained.

After specific tactics or activities are agreed upon, assignments and timelines need to be made so that the strategy can be carried out promptly and effectively. The following chart can serve as supplemental strategy worksheets for community groups as they plan their tactics and activities.

 

Advocacy Strategy Worksheet

Goals and Objectives	Targets	Tactics	Timeframe

 

Referenced from: Community Led Advocacy and Lobbying – a Guide Book for Local Communities. Mbugua, G. – Nairobi, Kenya. Forest Action Network, 2008.

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