Why you shouldn’t do it alone: how coalitions build better campaigns
By Costanza Poggi, Managing Director
Environmental challenges are rarely ‘just’ about the environment. They are about people, places, the food we eat, the way businesses operate and the way we live.
When the nature and climate crises intersect with rising costs of living and worries about the security of energy supplies, campaigns need to think about the system wide effects of what they are calling for and build support for their vision across sectors.
Too narrow a vision leads to unforeseen consequences and the kind of backlash seen against the ULEZ and against environmental reforms among farming communities.
Seahorse is well versed at running cross sector campaigns and work with clients to avoid political pitfalls and identify where they can have the greatest impact. To do this, we always ask ourselves and our clients the following questions.
Why you?
Being a credible voice on the issue you advocate on is key and you should be able to easily explain why it makes sense for you to lead a campaign. For example, if you are a business, the campaign should be aligned with your purpose, but should not be exclusively about achieving better commercial outcomes.
We recently worked with Wessex Water to launch SSWAN (Sustainable Solution for Water and Nature), a collaborative project between water companies and environmental groups aimed at reforming water regulation in a way that can deliver better outcomes for people and nature. By working together, the SSWAN members are developing an approach to water management that from the outset looks to achieve environmental, social and economic outcomes rather than pitting them against one another.
Recognising the responsibility of water companies to address the river pollution crisis, Wessex took the initiative to set up this collaboration, but the benefits, should Project SSWAN succeed, will be for nature, climate and water users more broadly. Transparency about intent and being able to demonstrate genuine commitment is crucial to building a strong coalition.
Who is the best voice for your message?
The environment sector always has a lot to say, but it’s equally important to recognise when you might not be the best spokesperson for your campaign. Those most affected by the climate and nature crises are often the least heard but have the biggest impact. In the case of river pollution for example, communities affected will always have the ear of politicians over campaigners. Authenticity matters and personal experience really brings issues to life. If your eye is on achieving the outcome, your organisation’s profile should be secondary.
What is unique about your coalition?
The most effective campaigns, aside from having clear, actionable asks that the audience can implement, often have at least one of the following:
a. A broad base of support. GreenerUK is an excellent example: in the aftermath of the EU referendum, the UK’s leading environmental groups came together to campaign for the retention of high environmental standards. By aligning their position and building a united front, they managed to secure the UK’s leading Environment Act and strengthen our fisheries and agriculture legislation. At a hugely testing and busy time for MPs, knowing that the sector was behind the same asks made their briefings credible and avoided the kind of fragmentation and infighting that can lead to delays.
b. A diverse set of members who wouldn’t usually campaign together or agree on an issue. Some of Seahorse’s campaigns are borne out of disagreement. Carbon pricing has historically been one of the more divisive tools to achieve net zero. The Zero Carbon Campaign set out to prove that, provided negative externalities were recognised and appropriately addressed, carbon pricing could play a key part in the UK’s emissions reduction strategy. To do this, ZeroC carefully built a broad base of support for the policy in its Carbon Pricing Declaration, which was signed by individuals across the political spectrum, from businesses and civil society. Whilst having Greenpeace and Shell sign your carbon pricing declaration may seem odd at first, the signal it sends policy makers is you’ve done the consensus building for them. This was instrumental in the campaign later achieving the implementation of one their key policy asks: the introduction of a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism.
As Seahorse continues to advocate for a rapid and equitable transition to net zero and a nature positive world, we are looking to build effective campaigns and coalitions to overcome some of the biggest decarbonisation challenges and build consensus across dividing lines. As the age-old African proverb goes, ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’. If you have a campaign in mind, we would love to hear from you.