All Things Biology

In the midst of a climate crisis, what might be the best way to present the real impact of our daily habits to the general public?

Upon reading Helen Briggs’ (2022) BBC article on how ‘unsustainable logging, fishing and hunting’ are driving species extinction, in which she emphasised how ‘million[s of] plants and animals could go extinct in [the] coming decades’ and that ‘climate change and increased demand […] push more species to the brink, putting food security at risk’ (Briggs, 2022), it dawned on me how much her piece echoes similar eye-catching, emotion-inducing statements made throughout speeches, articles and journals over the past few years. Examples include the words spoken by Greta Thunberg when she addressed the U.N.’s Climate Action Summit in 2019 by saying ‘we are at the beginning of a mass extinction’ (NPR Staff, 2019) and another BBC article written by William Park emphasising how food insecurity is ‘on the rise around the world’ (Park, N/A). This bodes the question: why when scientists, activists and journalists alike are warning us to face the impacts of our life decisions, are people still unprepared to reduce meat intake (with only 5-7% of the UK being vegetarian (Prescott-Smith, et al, 2022)), visit the local fishmongers rather than buy supermarket fish or try out the vegan lifestyle (with only 2-3% of people in the UK being vegan (Prescott-Smith. et al, 2022))?

Perhaps the answer lies in how many people actually read news articles or listen to speeches. In an era of social media and increased web usage, traditional media usage is declining (Dimmick. et al, 2009). This results in fewer people retrieving their news from articles and speeches and more people discovering significant news stories through different types of social media which means that it is becoming more challenging to reach young people through traditional news formats whilst their dependency on algorithmically curated social media feeds rises (Kalogeropoulos, 2019), shown in research that found people below the age of 35 retrieve their news mostly from their smartphone (Kalogeropoulos, 2019). 

Therefore, perhaps, the lack of awareness comes from a failure in traditional media’s ability to reach a large proportion of the population and a lack of individuals wanting to change their lifestyle when prices are rising and the impact of our actions are not felt as strongly in the UK, a high income country.

However, despite traditional news outreach being lowest amongst young people, the largest proportion of vegetarians in the UK are made up of 10-20 year olds in 2021 with the second largest reason for people making the life choice due to a dislike in the way animals are farmed (Prescott-Smith. et al, 2022). This shows how social media can act as the most effective method of increasing environmental awareness and prompting people to change their lifestyle (Mallick. Et al, 2019).

So maybe as more young people increase their use of social media we will see an increase in environmental awareness and more people will change their lifestyle to a more sustainable one. Though this may seem true, only 25% of 18 year olds are vegetarian or vegan in the UK (Chiorando, 2019) despite the potential to be exposed to the same posts as those who become inspired to change their lifestyle. The difference may lie in the personal interests of individuals influencing the algorithmically-catered posts advertised to them. Whereby someone with no interest in climate change will see very few to no posts or advertisements about it, whilst someone who is interested will see more. Therefore, those with little interest in food security and climate change are less likely to see news about these topics through social media and therefore may go unaware of the impact of their actions. 

So what might be the best way to move forward? 

The best way to move forward may be through government and private organisations increasing the sponsorship and promotion of educational and behavioural campaigns that are less reliant on algorithms to be promoted to a larger audience. This may be achieved through methods of social marketing such as ‘segmentation’- looking into how different people respond to an issue and react to it and focusing on ‘clear behavioural goals’ focusing not only people’s interests but also on how they live their life and catering campaigns specifically towards that (Corner. Et al, 2011). Through these methods more people may be exposed to how their lifestyle affects food security and climate change and may be inspired to change, making a sustainable future just a little bit closer. 

Written by Francesca Giannachi-Kaye

Biological Sciences graduate from the University of Exeter

Reference List:

1. Briggs, H. (2022) ‘Unsustainable logging, fishing and hunting ‘driving extinction’. bbc news science and environment. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62094405 (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
2. NPR Staff. (2019). ‘Transcript: Greta Thunberg’s Speech At The U.N. Climate Action Summit’. NPR.org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/23/763452863/transcript-greta-thunbergs-speech-at-the-u-n-climate-action-summit?t=1657457063481 (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
3. Park, W. (N/A). ‘Why we still haven’t solved global food insecurity’. BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-race-to-improve-food-security/ (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
4. Dimmick, J. Chen, J. Li, Zhan. (2009) ‘Competition Between the Internet and Traditional News Media: The Gratification- Opportunities Niche Dimension. Journal of Media Economics. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15327736me1701_2 (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
5. Kalogeropoulos, A. (2019). ‘How Younger Generations Consume News Differently’. Reuters Institute: University of Oxford. Available at: https://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2019/how-younger-generations-consume-news-differently/ (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
6. Prescott-Smith, S. Smith, M. (2022). ‘Meet Britain’s vegans and vegetarians’. YouGov. Available at: https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2022/01/20/meet-britains-vegans-and-vegetarians (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
7. Mallick, R. Bajpai, S,P. (2019). ‘Impact of Social Media on Environmental Awareness’. Available at: https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/impact-of-social-media-on-environmental-awareness/208914 (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
8. Chiorando, M. (2019). ‘Young people in the UK are ‘ditching meat in record numbers’ says poll’. Plantbasednews.org. Available at: https://plantbasednews.org/news/young-people-uk-ditching-meat-record-numbers/#:~:text=The%20results%20show%20that%2025,olds%20are%20veggie%20or%20vegan. (Accessed: 10th July 2022)
9. Corner, A. Randal, A. (2011). ‘Selling climate change? The limitations of social marketing as a strategy for climate change public engagement’. Global Environmental change. Available at: (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378011000793 (Accessed: 10th July 2022)