The climate change policy debate in Australia often seems hopelessly divisive. Trench warfare between those advocating for and against climate policy has nobbled the range of policy options and divided Australians along social and political identity lines. In the midst of this morass, in 2015-16 a group of farmers organised to form Farmers for Climate Action (FCA), a non-partisan Australian charity with the objective (paraphrased in broad terms) of engaging farmers and the agricultural sector with climate change science and policy, and vice versa. FCA has filled a gap in the Australian climate debate, positioned to be inclusive of advocacy for climate action (as traditionally advanced by environmentalists’ groups and the political Greens) and advocacy for farmers’ and agricultural interests (as traditionally advanced by farmers’ groups and the political Nationals), while yielding to neither ‘side’. In other words, FCA forged a space entirely of their own, bridging the social divide on climate change in Australia.

For people who have ‘environmentalist’ or ‘farmer’ as their social identity – both identities that are known to be strong determinants of one’s worldviews, attitudes, norms, behaviours, and politics – deviating from the ‘script’ of the identity or contravening identity norms can be extraordinarily personally difficult and may result in social exclusion and marginalisation. This is not least because we know personal wellbeing has a direct link to one’s sense of belonging that comes with being part of a social identity group.

This project explores experiences and observations of New South Wales farmers who have joined with Farmers for Climate Action. Interviews with 37 farmers canvassed how they understand the relationship between being a farmer and being activated on climate change. Key themes relate to how farmers navigate deviating from the dominant script in their social networks, their views on what strategies are most effective for engaging other farmers on climate change, and their views generally on how the public debate about climate change in Australia is received in farming communities.

About the Speaker

Bec Colvin is a social scientist with the Resources, Environment & Development Group at the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. Bec researches the social and political dimensions of contentious issues associated with climate policy and energy transition. Her research is focused on understanding the complexity of how different people and groups engage with social, policy, and political conflict about climate and energy issues, particularly through the theoretical lens of the social identity approach. She has explored conflict about wind energy, coal seam gas, coal, and climate policy and energy transition more broadly, in settings ranging from the public sphere through to local communities. She has a particular interest in how regional communities grapple with change to their local energy related infrastructure and industries.

Bec is lead investigator on a 2022-2025 Australian Research Council funded Discovery Project that seeks to understand the influence of ‘unconventional advocates’ – like farmers, business people, and political conservatives – on public opinion about climate policy, and holds a 2023-2026 Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award that aims to identify ways to establish constructive and community-led dialogue on regional futures in coal-producing areas.

At the Crawford School of Public Policy, Bec teaches courses on the role and practice of communication in climate and environmental policy. She was formerly Co-Convener of the Master of Climate Change and Convenor of the Graduate Certificate of Climate Policy. Bec is on the editorial board of leading journal Environmental Research Letters, and is a regular contributor to the media on issues to do with climate and energy.