The arena of environmental policy and environmental justice is marked by different dimensions of polarization. This polarization takes place in different aspects including narratives, issue mobilization (strategies) and citizen participation. Polarization also takes place at different levels: horizontal polarization within local communities, organizations and activist groups; and vertical polarization between national/international elites and local communities. This cluster aims to understand how polarization may not be negative,  and even may be desirable, when it improves the quality of communication, deliberation and collective action around environmental decision-making. This process can result in robust responses to (global) climate change issues with diverse (local) environmental worldviews and priorities, aiming at environmental and social justice.  

This cluster will feature several case studies in Indonesia, Brazil and other locations as shared by participants. The Indonesian research undertaken by ICRS shows how the polarized narratives between national elites and local communities around green energy spring from different considerations: definitions of “clean/green energy”, national and local economic priorities, impacts on the local ecosystem, healthy human-nature relations, local communities’ livelihoods, and socio-cultural considerations. Do local ecological, social, and cultural concerns constitute a challenge or asset to energy developments and environmental conservation? In this research project, university-based researchers collaborated with 14 communities impacted by geothermal development projects. In addition to consolidating local knowledge, the research objective was to design effective local and national strategies for energy transitions that are sensitive to local knowledge and worldviews. 

The Cerah Foundation (CERAH) and the Asia Research Centre, University of Indonesia (ARC UI) conducted a study on polarization and alternative narratives in the policy on equitable energy transition in Indonesia in 2024. The study looked at how the polarization of the energy transition issue plays out on social media, and it examined the perceptions and positions of various parties across sectors (private, government, civil society organizations, local communities and journalists) on the energy transition issue, in order to develop alternative narratives, and explore the understanding and perceptions of young people as one of the key actors of the energy transition issue in the future.

The Institute of Studies on Religion (ISER) of Brazil carried out the research entitled “Christianities and climate narratives” in 2023, which analyzed how Catholic and Evangelical groups have been engaging in debates related to the environment, conceptions of nature, and climate change. The research explored the narratives surrounding the interplay between faith and climate discourses both in public spaces and digital environments. While the government is seen as the main responsible actor for solving problems related to the climate crisis, the family is seen as the most responsible actor for caring for nature. This concept opens an important channel for thinking about the family as a fundamental space for partnerships and advocacy on this issue.

Programs:

Plenary: Cross-country conversation on polarization and environmental justice

[Date, time, room]

[pemantik: Samsul Maarif/Jonathan Smith, [ISER], [Cerah], Convener:

Zainal Abidin Bagir]

“What is at stake in environmental polarization?”: FGD on environmental justice and polarization

[Date, time, room]

Citizens’ stories (Screening and discussion of "Those who Resist")