Bringing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) to the environmental movement. We have a long way to go.
Recently I took part in a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workshop at my company. I began thinking of the need to apply such an understanding and vocabulary to the environmental movement. DEI work is about building an effective communication system to share about diversity-related opportunities and challenges, empowering non-dominant (those without the power) communities, and learning a common language to discuss these issues with the goal of building ‘allyship’. It struck me that this is something barely considered in the environmental movement. Yes, there are more and more articles written on the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis on non-dominant groups. However, DEI means giving these voices the power to tell their own stories. After just a quick Google search, I realized my instincts were correct. The 2018 report by Dorceta Taylor entitled ‘Diversity in Environmental Organizations Reporting and Transparency’ found that of the 2,057 environmental organizations analyzed, only 14.5% even report diversity-related data. The 2014 Green 2.0 report found that of the 191 environmental nonprofits, 74 government environmental agencies, and 28 leading environmental grant-making foundations reviewed, 88% of staff members and 95% of governing boards were white. Clearly, our understanding of the environmental movement is one told through a white cultural lens. We need to be more diverse, equitable, and inclusive in how we define ‘being an environmentalist’ and consider cultural variations in how this may look or be conveyed. This will come by incorporating DEI thought and language within environmental organizations and in the language used to convey their work. The need to bring all voices into the conversation to have an inclusive discussion of how dominant groups can best support these communities is clear.
Sources:
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-glaring-lack-transparency-environmental.html
https://www.outsideonline.com/2286056/green-organizations-dont-care-about-inclusion
