Security vs. Justice: Greenpeace and the securitisation of the climate crisis on Instagram

Abstract

Global action on climate change requires engaging communication to convince people of the need for extreme measures to mitigate the threat of climate change felt most severely by vulnerable groups. Informed by the conceptual framework of (just) securitisation theory, and integrating insights from strategic communications, this study explores the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the construction of the climate crisis as an existential threat. Capturing textual and visual data, a multi-modal qualitative content analysis performed on 67 of Greenpeace International’s Instagram posts from 2023 finds that Greenpeace intertwine security and justice framings, frequently calls for the protection of vulnerable groups and ecosystems, identifies big oil as a responsible figure, and proposes justice-oriented solutions characteristic of the ‘extreme measures’ of securitisation. By maintaining moral integrity, educating audiences and utilising humour, NGOs role in the construction of the climate crisis as an existential threat challenges the traditional role of state actors.