The environmental movements are for protecting the environment. From early concerns about industrial air and water pollution to the current-world battle against climate change, environmental movements have continuously adapted and grown to address the most pressing threats to our planet.
Scientists, social activists, and communities want to make a difference. Together they initiate movements. They try to bring about positive changes with protection of nature in focus.
Environmental movements can also be politically driven. Such movements try to influence government rules and concerned environmental departments.
These require efforts from a large section of people with common interests in nature. Thus, it usually involves a wide range of people and organizations working together to improve the environment. Protect the nature. Stop the exploitation of natural resources. Shed awareness on global climate issues.
They take many different forms, from highly organized groups to more casual ones.
The movement operates at various levels, from local, and national to global. These address a wide range of environmental issues.
Also known as Environmentalism, the Ecology Movement, Conservation Movement, or Green Politics and more.
Environmentalism is used as a general term to refer to concern for the environment and particularly actions or advocacy to limit negative human impacts on the environment.
International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (Second Edition), 2020
Conceptualizing Environmental Movements
Today, environmental movements are very active all over the world. This is mainly because of growing environmental issues and their consequences being more prevalent.
This caring attitude toward nature saw a drastic shift in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
People got serious about the environment in the late 1970s and the 1980s. United Nations and authorities of developed countries like USA, UK and Germany, started staging conferences, passing laws, and starting departments in governmental institutions.
This was also the time when Non Governmental Organizations also became active and powerful voices for global climate issues.
If it weren’t for these environmental movements, we wouldn’t have “green” businesses. Or government organizations that are entirely focused on environmental safety.
United Nations started conversations on global warming and population control with world leaders. This led to multiple laws and regulations being passed and followed all around the world.
Common Challenges for Environmental Movements
Environmental movements face several challenges:
- It is not always clear what everyone involved wants to achieve.
- It includes many different organizations, from small to very large ones.
- Many environmental organizations, especially smaller ones, struggle with limited funding, manpower, and resources,
- The goals and methods of the movement differ from one country to another due to varying socio-economic contexts, cultural norms, and political systems
- Countries and powers like to follow economic growth at the expense of long-term environmental sustainability.
- Despite growing environmental consciousness, many people remain unaware of or apathetic towards pressing environmental issues.
- Conservative thoughts and approaches on using nature and its resources solely for human populations are still very prevalent. It can hinder conservation efforts and environmental advocacy.
Early Environmental Awareness and Actions
History has seen many important environmental movements.
“Tree hugging” is considered a stereotype and not a historical movement by many. Its symbolic, however, a metaphorical expression for environmentalism or the act of hugging trees to express love for nature.
During the early 1800s, the Romantic Movement saw communities started being nature lovers. One of the character of Romanticism was glorification of nature.
The famous poet William Wordsworth’s poetry declared that everyone should feel like they own nature, as long as they appreciate and enjoy it with their heart and eyes. He is known as one of the central figure in English Romantic revolution poetry.
An environmental consensus began as a response to dirty air from the factories during the Industrial Revolution.
Factories and the heavy use of coal made the air very polluted in high-density populations.
By 1900, chemicals from factories and human waste polluted water at alarming rates.
Politicians were being pressured to make laws to clean up the environment.
Key Figures, Early Laws and Movements
By the mid-19th century, England faced significant industrial pollution, notably from hydrochloric acids produced by the Alkali industry. In 1863, Britain passed the Alkali Acts, which were some of the first major laws to regulate pollution. Following that, a second Alkali Act was passed in 1874.
The Leblanc process, which makes soda ash, and releases harmful air pollution called gaseous hydrochloric acid, also came into commons’ focus.
The idea of conserving nature had also started in India’s forests.
People realized that human actions were harming the environment. They believed it was their responsibility to protect nature.
Sir James Ranald Martin worked hard to show effects of deforestation. He tried to convince the British government in India to protect forests by creating special departments tasked with protection and nurture.
In 1842, the Madras Board of Revenue, led by Alexander Gibson, a botanist, started a program to protect forests locally. This was the first time a government took such action anywhere in the world.
In 1855, the government under Lord Dalhousie introduced a plan to save forests. The plan became a model for other regions including the United States.
A book by Dr. Hugh Cleghorn in 1861, called “The Forests and Gardens of South India,” became the main guide for people working with forests in the area.
Alfred Newton wrote about why it’s important to give animals a break from hunting during certain times of the year. This idea led to the creation of groups like the Plumage League, which later became the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Plumage League was primarily opposed the use of feathers from exotic birds in fashion. It ultimately asked for the protection of sea birds.
Continued efforts helped pass the first law in the world to protect sea birds.
Between 1850 and 1950, the main environmental issue was dealing with air pollution from industries and factories.
The Coal Smoke Abatement Society started in 1898, was one of the earliest groups trying to fight air pollution. It was started by an artist named Sir William Blake Richmond because he was tired of the dark smoke from coal in winter.
In 1875, a law called the Public Health Act declared all furnaces and fireplaces had to stop making smoke near populations.
The Commons Preservation Society, formed in 1865, was among the first environmental caring groups in Britain.
Robert Hunter, a lawyer for the society, joined forces with the likes of Hardwicke Rawnsley, Octavia Hill, and John Ruskin. Together, they stopped the building of railways in certain areas to protect nature.
This success led to the creation of the Lake District Defence Society, which later became The Friends of the Lake District.
In 1893, a group with Hill, Hunter, and Rawnsley in the lead, decided to create a national organization that would put effort into protecting important historical and natural sites.
This organization officially started in 1894. It became stronger when a law called the 1907 National Trust Bill was passed in August 1907. This gave the organization official recognition.
John Muir and Henry David Thoreau took a keen interest in conservation and preservation thoughts in the western part of the United States.
Thoreau’s book “Walden” talked about nature. He thought it was important for people to connect closely with nature.
Muir and his followers founded the Sierra Club.
These aforementioned ideas and movements became the basis of modern environmentalism.
There were critics as well. Gifford Pinchot, for example, wanted to use nature’s resources carefully for people.
Environmentalism picked up pace in the early 1900s.
In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed the creation of the National Park Service to “a new federal bureau in the Department of the Interior responsible for protecting the 35 national parks and monuments then managed by the department and those yet to be established.”
The environmental movement in the U.S. gained momentum after World War II. Commons started realizing that problems like diseases and pollution are consequences of altering nature’s balance.
In 1949, Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac,” talked about such consequences. He urged everyone to protect nature, and keep it healthy and beautiful.
Rachel Carson’s famous book “Silent Spring” researched how birds were disappearing because of a chemical called DDT. She explained how people trying to control nature with man-made chemicals were causing harm. She is considered among the major influences on modern environmental movements.
The 1990s witnessed a much required rise in the environmental movement and actions. It was the time when international cooperation started taking center stage.
The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro brought together over 142 world leaders. Not only that, environmental organizations came on board eager to contribute in fighting global environmental issues.
Today, the threat of pollution to human health and nature at large has drawn people from all backgrounds to fight for a better future.
Primary Focus Points of Environmental Movements
The conservation movement wants to keep nature safe for us to use in a way that doesn’t harm it. It emphasizes planting trees, recycling, and stopping pollution.
The environmental health movement has been around since the Progressive Era. it’s all about making sure cities have clean water, good sewage systems, and steady population growth.
The Environmental Justice movement started in the U.S. during the 1980s. The movement focuses on the unfair treatment of low-income and minority communities by preventing them from being exposed to pollution from modernism like highways, garbage dumps, factories, etc. This movement connects social and environmental issues.
The ecology movement covers different ideas about taking care of the Earth. One important theory is the Gaia Theory, which looks at Earth as a living thing. Focuses on the Value of Earth and how everything in nature is connected.
There are different shades seen in the ecology movement.
“Bright green” environmentalism is meant to achieve both environmental sustainability and economic prosperity.
“Light green” environmentalism sees being eco-friendly as a lifestyle choice; individual lifestyle choices and consumer behavior to reduce environmental impact.
And “dark green” environmentalism suggests giving up unwanted technologies and modernism processes and often criticizing industry and excessive consumption.
“Deep Ecology” believes the Earth itself is the most important thing. The need to protect its diversity and health just because it’s valuable on its own. Humans must recognize that nature has its inherent value.
The anti-nuclear movement is against nuclear technologies. Some important groups in this movement are the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Today, environmentalists find common ground through the sciences of ecology and environmental science. A new area of science called conservation biology is growing because of biodiversity protection.
Global warming, ozone depletion and climate change have become the main focus of current world environmental movements.
After Hurricane Katrina (Aug 23, 2005 – Aug 31, 2005), Davis Guggenheim directed a documentary film about global warming, inspired by the campaigning work of Al Gore, the former United States Vice President. The movie is seen as an eye-opener for many.
Step It Up 2007, with rallies in over 1,400 communities and all 50 states grabbed attention.
Lots of different religious groups and churches are also part of movements now.
Radical environmentalism is a way of thinking that comes from feeling frustrated that regular environmental efforts aren’t doing enough. It’s like saying, “We need to do more and we need to do it differently!”
The consequences of the Industrial Revolution set up modern environmental thought. Environmental movements today play a critical role in organizing conferences and raising awareness at global level.
Modern Environmentalism Key Concepts
Some of the key concepts in modern environmentalism are;
Sustainability: Sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Renewable Energy: Shifting energy production from fossil fuel burning to renewable energy sources like sun and wind energy.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Making things that we can use again and again. Things we can recycle.
Source reduction: Making less garbage and pollution by changing production methods.
Innovation: Coming up with new ideas that are not detrimental to nature.
Viability: Making new jobs and businesses that help the environment.