Climate Discourse Among Canadian NGOs: Ecological Modernization, Civic Environmentalism, and Climate Justice

Abstract

This research examines the websites of twenty-three Canadian NGOs using critical discourse analysis to understand: (i) What climate change discourses are dominant among Canadian NGOs? (ii) What are the goals and strategies being promoted through these discourses? (iii) How are climate issues being framed by these organizations? (iv) Who do NGOs see as the primary agents and mechanisms of change in addressing climate change? The findings illustrate three main discourses--ecological modernization, civic environmentalism, and climate justice--though the distinctions between discursive categories are often blurred as many organizations draw from multiple discursive narratives in their appeals for climate action. Ecological modernization discourse underpins much of the framing of climate change as a threat to the Canadian economy and the benefits of transitioning to a zero-carbon economy through market interventions and green innovation. Equally represented is a Canadian stream of civic environmentalist discourse. Civic environmentalism has a strong presence in how many NGOs attribute the climate crisis to an imbalance in decision-making power between elites and the rest of Canada where the solution is then to restore democracy in political institutions. Climate justice was least represented but offers a more critical understanding of the nature of the climate crisis and emphasizes the need for a broad-based movement that unifies the fights for social, economic, and ecological justice.