Analysis of a Campaign by World Wildlife Fund Addressing the Issue of Climate Change - Term Paper Example

Campaign analysis essay Name Institution Affiliation Campaign analysis essay The need to act on climate change is increasingly being advocated in the whole world. The public opinion is always relevant in shaping the policies and the laws in a given country. Various tools are used by parties with interest to change the public opinion regarding climate change. One such tool in the modern world is by using media that has a lot of influence on the views of the people hence changing policies. The paper is an argumentative analysis of a campaign by World Wildlife Fund addressing the issue of climate change. Introduction Climate change has been an important issue for the past century brought about by human activities. As humans aim at growing economically, they engage in activities that lead to the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon (IV) oxide and methane gas (Campbell, 2004). Mitigation measures have demanded actions both at a local, and a global scale where governmental and private sector has been affected. The actions involve setting up of policies and have led to the elimination of certain practices. Scientists have raised the issue of climate change by providing scientific evidence to show that the adverse effects are changing the weather. Evidence has been presented by pointing at current issues affecting humans in their diverse activities that have been caused a result effect of climate change. One change is the increased global temperature, also known as global warming (Harrison & Sundstrom, 2010). It has contributed to changes in various ecosystems directly affecting human survival. Media plays a primary role in influencing public opinion through the determination of information available to the masses. The public perception depends on the information supplied by either printed or electronic media thus guiding decision making (Letcher, 2009). A campaign by the World Wide Fund to globally act on climate change used the changes on ecosystems to press the masses into action (Climate change is happening now, 2016). The influence of the media to the public is an important instrument in determining the views of the public on an emerging or already existing matter. Carrying the analysis is essential as it helps measure the effectiveness of using the media in campaigning. Literature review The article adopts information from other studies that have addressed the issue of climate change. Climate change is known to increase global temperature, widely known as global warming leading to change in the ecosystem. The campaign calls the public to action by stating that the increased rate of climate change has led to increased extinction of the species where one in every six species is at the threat (Climate change is happening now, 2016). Global warming has led to climate change by altering weather patterns as well as ecosystems. The rate of change is higher than the rate at which the different species inhabiting the ecosystem can adopt putting them at risk of death thus extinction (Painter, 2013). The campaign relates its importance of tackling the issue of climate change to the global gains in reduction of the greatest challenges facing the modern world. Such challenges include poverty, increased human displacement as well as the extinction of wildlife species. Over the last thirty years, researchers have identified an increasing rate of global temperatures. The Word Wildlife Fund calls for the involvement of the public in the campaign by speaking out about climate change and also minimizing the impact at an individual level. It also borrows literature from other works to explain the causes of global warming. Carbon (IV) oxide and other greenhouse gases are increasing in the atmosphere due to increasing human activities thus emissions (Painter, 2013). Greenhouse gases emissions have increased hugely due to economic development. The various economic drivers to the economy have increased the concentration of greenhouse gases. Most developing countries such as China and India are identified to be the leading emitters (Whetton et al. 2001). Agricultural and industrial sector are the primary economic drivers in the identified countries. In the agriculture, many factors such as the application of fertilizers and machinery used produce a lot of gases mostly carbon (IV) oxide. The industrial sector is the major contributor of greenhouse gases due to its use of energy. Other economic activities such as deforestations for timber, charcoal, and other wood products have reduced the surfaces for greenhouse gases sequestration (Whetton et al. 2001). Greenhouse gases contribute to global warming by acting as a trap to the energy subsequently increasing the global temperature (Dunlap & Brulle, 2015). The sun’s direct rays are reflected back to the surface, but the accumulation of greenhouse gases prevents the reflection. The article explains the impact global warming has had using an example of Britain 12,000 years ago. The temperature was about four degrees Celsius cooler and the country was covered in vast amount of ice, and the sea level was about a hundred meters lower than they are today (Climate change is happening now, 2016). The current rate of global warming is higher than the one12, 000 years ago (Lerner & P, 2009). Assessing the impact it had, the need to tackle climate change in the various ways available can be understood. The article calls for public participation by spreading the message through the use of the various social media platform. They have provided a link where one can share the campaign to their Twitter, Facebook, and Google plus accounts, therefore helping in creating awareness as well as calling for mass action on climate change (Climate change is happening now, 2016). Findings The aim of the campaign is to reduce climate change human-induced activities. It partners governmental bodies, communities, and businesses to help successfully implement the campaign (Climate change is happening now, 2016). Involvement can also be by joining the campaign, donating funds to facilitate the processes or adapting to the various stipulated ways of reducing climate change. The first way that the campaign is taking action so as to achieve its goal is by influencing global climate policies. Climate change is a global issue and requires every nation of the world to play its role since reducing the emission of just some country will not reduce the global concentration of greenhouse gases (Campbell, 2004). It also calls for a global deal to ensure countries commit to protecting their forests. Underdeveloped countries tend to be more affected by the impact of climate change due to lack of adaptation mechanisms. The campaign advocates for developed and developing countries to help the underdeveloped countries to adapt to the effects of climate change whereas adopting more sustainable ways of ensuring economic development. The campaign approaches the leading recorded emitters such China, India, Brazil, the United States, South Africa and the European Union to influence the European countries (Climate change is happening now, 2016). Another way is by calling the country to switch to environmentally friendly energy sources such as renewable energy. The campaign has an ambitious plan for ensuring the world uses renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and water by the year 2050. It tries to seek an audience with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron asking the government to commit to diverting the energy consumption from the use of fossil fuels by extracting about 60 percent of its energy from renewable sources by the year 2030 (Climate change is happening now, 2016). It influences the United Kingdom policy by advocating for Energy Bill so as to legally commit the Government to these reductions. Globally, the transport industry is one of the primary greenhouse gases emitters. In the United Kingdom, the aviation industry is one of the leading producers of greenhouse gases where it contributes about 27 percent and is still developing (Letcher, 2009). The campaign targets regulations in the industry to ensure that manufacturing companies commit to a reduction in the emissions. That commitment is by ensuring the emissions are taken into account in the United Kingdom Climate Change Act. The involvement of the companies in the market in European Union Emission Trading System is also another important tool used by the campaign in reducing these emissions. It also opposes Air expansion as it increases the amount of greenhouse gases produced but instead campaigns for efficient use of the already existing air capacity. The increasing rate of deforestation has raised an alarm, and the campaign calls for the reduction in the practice as it not only contribute to increased amount of greenhouse gases but also affects the habitat of both animal and plant life reducing diversity (Lerner & P, 2009). The campaign adopts a model that will advocate for the United Kingdom businesses to stop activities that encourage deforestation through illegal logging. The campaign also engages indirectly in the protection of forests by engaging in lobbying and negotiation with governments thus leading to policies that protect against deforestation. From an individual perspective, the campaign influences the mentality that only the government can act through policies by showing ways of tackling climate change at a household level. Such methods include adopting environmentally friendly lifestyles and technologies (Schwarzenbach, 2011). Discussion The campaign was a success as it managed to secure commitments by governmental bodies, business as well as persons at an individual level. At an international level, the global climate deal in December 2015 during the Paris Climate talk can be attributed to the success of the campaign where over 190 countries committed to reduce the global temperature below two degree Celsius (Climate change is happening now, 2016). At a national level, the United Kingdom parliament is still debating on the energy bill showing success in the campaign. In reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from the aviation industry, the campaign was a success as it called the government to act. The government committed to reducing emissions in the air transport sector by the year 2050 calling for the improvement of technology (Climate change is happening now, 2016). Another success in the campaign involves collaboration with business to ensure that their activities do not encourage illegal logging thus deforestation. Some businesses using timber products and others in timber trade support the campaign. Such include Tesco, Carillion and Penguin Random House (Climate change is happening now, 2016). The campaign is also operating in forests in other parts of the world to ensure their protection. Some include New Guinea, Amazon, and Borneo. Conclusion The World Wildlife Fund succeeded in the campaign against climate change. The campaign was unbiased as it addressed all the aspects of the community that increase the emission of greenhouse gases. The success can be attributed to the use of media in the campaign to influence policy change both at a local and international level. The analysis adopted in the study presented the role the media plays in shaping the public opinion so as to change policy. The study is essential in understanding the power of the media in shaping public opinion thus impacting policy change. References Campbell, J. L. (2004). Institutional change and globalization. Princeton, NJ [u.a.: Princeton Univ. Press. Climate change is happening now. (2016). Wwf.org.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2016, from http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/tackling_climate_change. Dunlap, R. E., & Brulle, R. J. (2015). Climate change and society: Sociological perspectives. Harrison, K., & Sundstrom, L. M. I. (2010). Global commons, domestic decisions: The comparative politics of climate change. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Lerner, A. W., & St, P. C. (2009). Climate change. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press. Letcher, T. M. (2009). Climate change: Observed impacts on planet Earth. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Painter, J. (2013). Climate change in the media: Reporting risk and uncertainty. Schwarzenbach, A. (2011). Saving the world's wildlife: WWF-the first 50 years. London, Profile Books. Whetton, P., Ash, A., & CSIRO (Australia). (2001). Climate Change in Australia. Aspendale, Vic: CSIRO Atmospheric Research. Read More