Between belief and green language
How do Dutch climate organisations speak on Twitter/X, and where does religious language appear? An analysis of all posts by 44 climate organisations in 2023, with Nico de Groot.
Background: Noah’s Ark, from Hafiz-i Abru’s Majma‘ al-tawarikh, Herat, c. 1425. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- Data
- All 15,790 posts in 2023 by 44 organisations whose mission statements explicitly address climate and climate change, collected with Zeeschuimer. Part of a larger dataset of about 770,000 Dutch-language tweets from 2023
- Organisations
- From faith-based networks such as GroeneKerken, Laudato Si’ Alliantie Nederland and Christian Climate Action NL, to activist movements such as Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future, and institutions such as Milieudefensie, Urgenda and The Ocean Cleanup
- Analysis
- A taxonomy of explicit religion, implicit religion and symbolic ecologism, enriched with AI support; word clouds; sentiment analysis with a multilingual XLM-RoBERTa model (about 70% accuracy on Dutch posts); discourse analysis
- Project
- NWO project Apocalypse and Climate Change: Impact of Religious Vocabularies in the Netherlands, Tilburg University
Many voices, uneven reach
Share of all posts and of all views on X/Twitter in 2023, by group.
The seven religious organisations wrote almost 6% of the posts but reached less than 1% of the views. XR Nederland alone drew about half of all views. Views peaked in September 2023, above 20 million, during XR’s civil disobedience campaigns. Figures for the 36 other organisations are derived from the totals.
Show data table
| Group | Posts | Share of posts | Views | Share of views |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 religious organisations | 912 | 5.8% | 687,000 | 0.6% |
| XR Nederland | 2,743 | 17.4% | 55 million | 50.5% |
| 36 other organisations | 12,135 | 76.9% | ≈ 53 million | 48.9% |
| All 44 organisations | 15,790 | 100% | ≈ 109 million | 100% |
Two vocabularies
The most prominent terms in the posts of all 44 organisations and of the seven religious organisations (Dutch, with English translation).
- biodiversiteit · duurzaamheid · wetenschap · klimaatrechtvaardigheidbiodiversity, sustainability, science, climate justice: the most frequent terms
- CO2 · droogte · vervuilingCO2, drought, pollution: the language of crisis
- schepping · zonde · Bijbel · bekeringcreation, sin, Bible, conversion: Christian terms, less frequent
- schepping · Bijbel · god · Paus · Franciscus · Jezus · bekeringcreation, Bible, God, Pope, Francis, Jesus, conversion: the most prominent terms
- gebed · liturgie · priester · bisschop · sabbat · parochieprayer, liturgy, priest, bishop, sabbath, parish
- Laudato Si’ · ecologische bekeringthe papal encyclical and “ecological conversion”
- rechtvaardigheid · uitbuiting · kapitalismejustice, exploitation, capitalism
Across all organisations, the dominant vocabulary centres on justice, responsibility and urgency. The religious organisations anchor climate engagement in scripture, church practice and Catholic ecotheology, while also using the language of social justice.
Crisis and hope
The tone of the posts, from automated sentiment analysis.
- More negative messagesUrgency and crisis; structural problems such as political inertia, ecological destruction and system failure
- Problem-orientedA warning, activist and confrontational register
- Relatively more positive messagesHope, care for creation and ethical conversion
- Constructive and reflectiveClimate responsibility framed as moral care, spiritual reflection and religious duty
In both groups most posts are neutral and informative. The differences lie in the balance between warning and hope.
Implicit religion in secular climate talk
Seven themes through which organisations without a religious identity use morally charged and symbolic language.
Imperatives and values
Protecting biodiversity and sustainability appear as moral obligations, not only practical goals.
Moral framing and responsibility
Frequent appeals to responsibility and justice.
Truth, science and rationality
Science functions as a shared value to be defended.
Crisis and urgency
A problem-oriented communication that stresses the need to act now.
Community and collective action
Posts build a collective identity and call for joint action.
Purpose, vision and hope
Alongside criticism, a clear aim and a vision of change.
Devotion and perseverance
Deep commitment and steadfast determination.
Nature is treated as quasi-sacred and pollution as a kind of collective sin.
Explicit religion
Four ways in which the seven religious organisations link climate and faith.
Direct religious engagement
Creation is central; care for the earth as a religious task.
Faith practices and church structures
Climate action integrated into prayer, liturgy and parish life.
Catholic ecotheology
References to Laudato Si’ and Laudate Deum of Pope Francis.
Ethical and social justice
Climate change framed as responsibility and justice.
Religious organisations reach a smaller audience, but act as “moral laboratories” within the climate movement.
- Dutch online climate discourse in 2023 is shot through with both explicit and implicit religious registers.
- Secular organisations, often unknowingly, use moral frames and ritual structures rooted in religious traditions: justice, responsibility and urgency recur throughout.
- Seven explicitly religious, all Christian, organisations wrote 5.8% of the posts but received only 0.6% of the views.
- Secular actors lean on crisis and guilt; religious groups bring in hope, redemption and conversion, which can offer an emotional balance.
- In one of Europe’s most secular countries, religious vocabularies keep circulating in new forms, in fields that appear secular.
Source Gürlesin, Ö. F. and De Groot, N. (2026). Tussen geloof en groene taal: Klimaatorganisaties op Twitter/X in Nederland (2023). In D. de Koning and C. Vander Stichele (eds), Geloven in tijden van stijgende zeeën: Religie en klimaatverandering in Nederland. Open Press Tilburg University. Open access: doi.org/10.56675/9789403888224_2 (in Dutch). Data: Coded Dataset of Climate Tweets from 44 Dutch Organizations (2023), Zenodo.