Why Kpop Fans Are Needed In The Climate Activism Movement

This month, Kpop fans around the world have been mobilizing around another social crisis: climate change.

On October 4th, fans held a Twitterstorm protesting Samsung’s involvement in the Vung Ang 2 coal power project in Vietnam, which would emit 200 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions in the next 30 years. The event garnered about 100 posts and over 200 retweets, respectively.

Please join me by tweeting #SAMSUNG_WRONG_CALL_ON_COAL today to ask Samsung to withdraw their investment from a coal power plant.
Coal power is dangerous for our future because it drives climate change, we need Samsung to hear us! 🌱 https://t.co/mLplSwiSRM

— IdolChamp Quiz Answers (Global) (@onlyquizanswers) October 4, 2020

🌳 | Samsung is funding a huge coal power plant in Vietnam that will drastically change the climate due to the increase of CO₂ (carbon dioxide).

Is expected that in the 30 years, this one coal plant will emit 200M tons of greenhouse gasses.#SAMSUNG_WRONG_CALL_ON_COAL pic.twitter.com/9K5c1FZVkB

— SNSD Charts (@SNSDChartsbr) October 4, 2020

Scientists say that if global temperatures rise by more than 1.5 degrees, the irreversible effects of climate change – which range from rising sea levels, massive food shortages, to the wildfires in California and Australia this year – will be devastating. More importantly, they say we are already very close.

Climate change is mainly caused by the emissions produced by burning fossil fuels. That’s why activists around the world are trying to stop governments and companies from building and funding coal plants.

Here’s where Kpop fans can step in, and why they should.

1. Kpop fans are already politically active. This year alone, fans in the US helped sellout tickets for a Trump rally and raised $1 million for the Black Lives Matter movement.

2. Many Kpop fans are also climate activists. Take Na-yeon Kim, for example. She’s a15-year-old from South Korea, and a fan of NCT Dream, as well as an online climate activist. She says she takes part in climate activism because in order to pursue her hobby – stanning – there needs to be a safe environment and future.

“Kpop fans are all over the world, and they all communicate with each other. So if Kpop fans get involved in climate activism, the word will spread very quickly.”

Su-mi Cho, a 19-year-old fan of BTS, says there’s another reason fans should get involved.

“Kpop is a global industry, which means it uses a lot of emissions, especially from all of those flights to meet fans. Some may think this is inevitable, but we can’t just let this pass as people concerned about the climate crisis.”

3. Kpop fans have enormous influence as consumers. They can boycott brands that are funding or building coal plants, or ask them to change their business practices. Money speaks, and companies would listen if a prominent fanbase withheld theirs from them.

4. Fans can ask their favorite artists to highlight these issues both in and outside of their music. Luckily, there are already signs that some artists are keen to this issue. This year, BTS was appointed as brand ambassador for two electric vehicles – the Formula E racing car and Hyundai fuel cell electric car – and MAMAMOO showed scenes of climate protests in their music video for ‘Hip’ last year, which some said was the first mention of climate change in Kpop music.

Climate change is an issue that can seem big and overwhelming. But Kpop fans have power in numbers, which is what’s needed to push back on governments and companies that are still burning coal and letting temperatures rise.