A prime example of continuity and change in sub-state framings of environmentalism, Scottish nationalism was initially heavily focused on the extraction of North Sea oil reserves (Esman 1977). The SNP’s first successful political campaign in the early 1970s, “It’s Scotland’s oil” was characterized by a resource nationalist narrative. The campaign’s aim was to draw focus on the possible economic benefits of the North Sea oil reserves for an independent Scotland (see Figure 1).

The campaign poster connects (national) resources, welfare, and increased autonomy for Scotland. Set in stark black and white, four faces that denote a representation of the whole of Scotland (male, female, infant, and elderly) look directly at the viewer, seemingly confronting them in an act of Althusserian interpellation (Althusser 1971). The heading above the faces reads, “It’s his/her oil” . Having hailed the viewer, the text below the faces asks direct questions to the viewer about the lack of jobs for Scots, sub-standard housing, education, and elderly care and hypothermia. The poster is designed to be serious and somber, leading the viewer to ask why, if the rich natural resources of Scotland belong to its people, they are impoverished and disenfranchised. It asserts a normative rather than declarative claim, as Scotland is not a sovereign state and currently does not have maritime borders distinct from the United Kingdom, nor any territorial claims outside this polity. The campaign was supremely successful and resonated well with voters in the two 1974 United Kingdom general elections, leading to the SNP winning 7 seats and 22% of the Scottish electorate the February election and 11 seats and 30% in the October re-election. Via the campaign, the SNP was able to counter the existing narrative that Scotland was economically dependent on the United Kingdom, giving credibility to the idea of independence as an economically viable—and desirable—option.

Later, during the Thatcher government in the 1980s, the SNP ran another North Sea oil campaign. This campaign had a similar theme but a subtle difference in message, which was more adversarial towards the Thatcher government (see Figure 2).

This notorious poster depicts a smiling Margaret Thatcher with dripping fangs ³ and the text: “No wonder she’s laughing. She’s got Scotland’s oil. Stop her—join the SNP”. This poster maintains the message that Scotland’s natural resources belong to the Scottish people, frame bridging between resource management and autonomy via a link between the national territory and national collective. However, this early 1980s poster is much more humorous than the 1974 one, Thatcher appearing highly satirized in a cartoony style. The poster’s message is also deeply adversarial towards the Westminster government, capitalizing on the great animosity towards Thatcher in Scotland. According to Ichijo, Thatcher and her cabinet ideology of market-oriented, aggressive individualism was, and is, seen by many as a threat to Scottish communitarian values (Ichijo 2003:37). This is corroborated by Mitchell et al.’s seminal 2007 survey of SNP members, in which members mention joining the party because of specific events in Scottish political history. Most cited was the discovery of oil in the North Sea, the basis for SNP’s popular 1970s campaign slogan, “It’s Scotland’s oil!”, and the runner-up was “Thatcherism” (Mitchell et al., 2012:74). This poster frame bridges three distinct issues: resource nationalism through the mobilization of the North Sea oil, anti-establishment antagonism towards the Thatcher government, and calls for increased Scottish autonomy. It also outlines the SNP as the vehicle to “protect” Scotland (and its natural resources) from Thatcher and Westminster, a narrative the party continues to this day with slogans such as, ‘Standing up for Scotland”.

This focus on oil and resource nationalism has however taken a backseat in SNP’s visual communication, as the party has evolved more towards a “green nationalism” that links autonomy and environmentalism. This includes a much-publicized stance against hydraulic fracturing, with humorous “Frack off!” badges, and a focus on wind energy and renewables. For example, one of the slogans for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum was, “Vote YES for a greener Scotland”. Flyers and posters highlighted the potential for green energy in an independent Scotland and asserting that the decarbonization of Scottish electricity production was being curtailed by Westminster.

More recently in 2019, the SNP government declared a “climate emergency”. The party set a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 and established a Climate Justice Fund in 2012 (Tokar 2014), investing heavily in offshore wind farms. These policy developments are instances of the frame bridging between environmental and autonomy issues going beyond the discursive regime; the green nationalism of the SNP has evolved into green nation building. As Royles and McEwen, 2015 (2015:1050) write, the SNP’s government has developed “the most successful and ambitious renewable energy programme in the United Kingdom, despit e energy being a reserved matter.” Similarly, a 19th century Romantic enchantment with the Highlands has been revived with highland “rewilding” (Brown et al., 2011) and planting 22 million new trees in order to return to the “natural” state of Scotland. This is part of a political evolution in Scottish nationalism. While Walter Scott’s popular works fused the wild landscapes of the highlands with turbulent histories and romantic traditions into powerful patriotic narratives, contemporary SNP discourse has moved from convervationism to ecologism, combining combines traditional nationalist concerns for the homeland’s rivers, forests and mountains with more contemporary, climate-focused environmental policies.

The assemblage between ecological and autonomy issues can even be extended to other topics, as is the case in one of the SNP’s posters during the United Kingdom EU referendum in 2016, known colloquially as “Brexit” (see Figures 3,4). This is a clear instance of minority nationalist frame bridging, where political actors seek to connect seemingly disparate issues discursively such as EU support, Scottish nationalism, and ecologism.

In the poster shown in Figure 4, an image of the Scottish Highlands covered with wind turbines evokes a link between (national) territory and climate-friendly policies, in this case renewable energy. The text, “The EU is good for our environment” highlights not only environmental concerns, but support for European integration, and indeed uses climate policies in an attempt to bolster support for the EU. This could be seen as an instance of “frame bridging”, as the posters seeks to link “two or more ideologically congruent but structurally unconnected frames regarding a particular issue or problem” (Snow et al., 1986:467). This instrumental use of the EU is characteristic of SNP Euro-engagement (see Hau 2019), and here it is used in synergy with support for climate protection. However, the poster also manages to connect earlier Romantic ideas of the rural Highlands as filled with magic, Celtic mystique, and authenticity with contemporary issues in Scottish politics such as energy decarbonization. In this way, earlier concerns for the local environment gives way to a more modern, green policy position that elevates environmentalism from a local problem to a global issue.

In Catalonia, there has been a similar yet distinct evolution in the relationship between minority nationalism and environmentalism. Figure 4 shows a 1931 poster produced by the German-born Jewish designer Fritz Lewy, highlighting early Catalanist environmental concerns. The Catalan Forestry Service, el Servei Forestal, had been established in 1931 by ERC’s founder, Francesc Macià, and was pioneering in ecological conservation in Spain.

The poster, titled ‘Without trees, there is neither industry or work’, highlights the need for the preservation of Catalan forests to safeguard industrial production and jobs, which were key political themes in the 1930s. The environmental concern for Catalan forests appears rather instrumental, as the viewer is encouraged to see tree trunks as future factory chimneys, but the desired outcome is the preservation of Catalonia’s woodland. Workers, peasants and the middle classes felt that they were represented by Marcià, considered the “grandfather” of modern Catalan nationalism (DiGiacomo 1987:162). He was a master of public imagery, and this poster is no exception, linking contemporary important issues of work for all, industrial production and concern for the local environment, which all speak to the ERC’s self-understanding as a progressive, left of center political party. The purpose was “to conserve and improve Catalonia”s forest wealth, the creation of natural parks, and the conservation and service of hunting grounds and fishing lots” (Nogué and Wilbrand 2018: 445). In this narrative, natural resources such as forests, rivers and parks are a national concern, pertaining to all inhabitants of the (national) territory, rather than merely the concern of local landlords and homeowners. A similar process of “scenic nationalism” occurred in the United States with the establishment of National Parks (rather than natural parks) as a way to foster popular appreciation of the national magnificence (Mitchell 2017; Runte 1997).

The link between territory, environment, autonomy and welfare policies was a mainstay in Catalan politics during the 1930s, and the ERC made extensive use of Catalan rural imagery to promote their political project for regional welfare and Catalan autonomy (DiGiacomo 1987:163). This particular form of “green nation building” reached its height during the ERC’s tenure in government and was discontinued under the Francoist dictatorship following the Spanish Civil War (Paül i Carril 2004: 42), as the regime followed a policy of aggressive economic growth, el desarrollismo (Conversi 1997:219). It therefore is a particular feature of Catalan nationalism, but not its Spanish counterpart.

Fifty years later, after the Francoist hiatus, this assemblage returned. In the 1980 Spanish general elections, the ERC’s main poster also attempted to connect rural Catalan imagery and ideas of better times before the dictatorship with support for the ERC’s center-left policies and autonomy agenda (see Figure 5).

The poster represents rural idyll; wheat in the fields, flowers and fruit trees, a content farmer leaning on his pitchfork next to a charming, red-tiled cottage while birds fly above a full rainbow and a red sun rising over the hills. As DiGiacomo (1987:163) puts it, “The only concession to the passage of time is the SEAT 600 (the Spanish equivalent of the Volkswagen) parked near the fruit trees.” The text below reads, “To move forward: Vote Esquerra Republicana De Catalunya. The decisive vote, the useful vote.”

While the image is rural nostalgia distilled, the text instead implies progress and utility, framing ERC as a bridge between past and future. The romantic emphasis on rural nostalgia and a connection between the people and the land is common in nationalist discourse. However, in Catalonia and other minority nations, it seemingly merged into a distinct concern for environmental issues. Today’s principal pro-independence force, ERC, seek to continue this line, frame bridging between the fight for Catalan autonomy and climate change. In the large policy manifesto, “The republic we’ll create/La republica que farem”, launched in 2018, ERC outlined five key policy areas for the proposed future Catalan Republic. Number four was called “Territory and Sustainability”, explicitly highlighting the link between (national) territory and environmentalism that ERC seek to create:

The brief goes on to list the environmental benefits of an independent Catalonia in terms of environmental protections, water conservation, renewable energy, an ambitious plan for zero emissions, and the establishment of new regulatory and advisory bodies in the Catalan administration in charge of sustainability and climate. Just as ERC did in 1931 and 1980, the party mobilizes in favour of independence through a focus on preserving and strengthening the national territory, or green nation building. There is then a blurring of national and natural concerns in ERC discourse that speaks to a profound—and electorally successful—frame bridging between these two issues. As the 2018 manifesto also shows, the Catalan nationalist discourse of ERC has changed from an earlier concern with preservation of local forests, rivers, and fields to become yet another weapon in the arsenal of reasons for independence. Climate change is framed as a global phenomenon that Catalonia can only tackle with independence, as ERC outlines a Catalan republic with greener ambitious than Spain.

Marcet and Argelaguet (2003) note that the ERC’s eco-friendly stance is cemented by the party’s internal statutes: Article 1 states that the party is “a democratic and non-dogmatic left-wing party whose references are the defence of the environment, human rights and the rights of national communities”. ⁴ In the regional Catalan parliament, the ERC have attempted to put this discourse into practice. Efforts include a bill recently approved by the Catalan Parliament, Llei 16/2017, del canvi climátic. ⁵ Although the Catalan “climate emergency bill” was similar to the aforementioned Scottish legislation, it went even further, banning fracking and planning a closure of all nuclear facilities by 2027 and a minimum reduction of CO₂ emissions of 27 per cent by 2030. Playing right into the ERC’s framing of Spain preventing Catalonia from realizing its ambitious green policies however, the conservative PP (Partido Popular), then in power, took the legal reforms the Spanish Supreme Court (TS, Tribunal Supremo), the highest court in Spain. The Spanish Supreme Court ruled that such measures were unconstitutional as they exceeded the competencies normally held by Autonomous Communities according to the 1978 Spanish Constitution.

Environmental concerns have become increasingly linked to territorial politics in Spain, with the Catalan independence parties’ green agenda being contested by the Spanish state on territorial grounds as “unconstitutional” with little regard for the actual benefits of these policies. Such decisions have inadvertently legitimized ERC framing of climate change as a territorial-political issue, strengthening their frame bridging between autonomy and environmentalism. This has led the ERC to be at the forefront of climate action in Spain with traditionally strong views on ecological issues (Marshall 1996). Through such extensive frame bridging, minority nationalist parties such as the ERC link concern with the (national) environment to both supranational values, such as human rights, and a core traditional concern for territorial autonomy.

In other minority national posters, such as this early 1980s poster from Corsica, traditionally nationalist imagery of the logo-map (cf. Benedict Anderson 1991) is combined with ecological concerns (see Figure 6).

The poster, titled “Yes to water, no to ICO”, advocates in favor of hydroelectric energy instead of the ICO, Italie Corse nuclear cable. It was created as part of the nationalist Corsican mobilization resistance against the Vazziu-Ajaccio thermal and oil power plant. Corsican nationalism has historically been intricately linked with environmentalism. As de Winter and Tursan (2003) write, the Corsican nationalist anti-nuclear and anti-oil groups, who also held an international demonstration against pollution in the Mediterranean in 1973, coupled ecological concerns with demands for autonomy. They outlined Corsica as a geographic entity whose identity was threatened, and this gave the fight against nuclear power, toxic waste, and whale beachings in Corsica a distinctly national character. According to de la Calle and Fazi (2010), the Corsican nationalist movement introduced “postmaterialist” issues such as environmentalism to the political agenda and attracted many young voters to the cause. Indeed, since this link was established by sub-state actors in the 1970s, “environmentalist and Corsists claims have never been separated” (de Winter and Tursan 2003:176), with environmental politics on the island being tightly linked to nationalist movements (De la Calle and Fazi, 2015). This is evidenced by Corsican MEP and former EFA President François Alfonsi’s political start in this ecological-nationalist movement. He co-founded the “Comité Anti-Vaziu”, the main NGO opposing the installation of heavy oil thermal power plants in Corsica in the late 1970s.

Another Corsican protest poster is even more explicit in its blending of nationalist and environmentalist message and imagery (Figure 7).

This poster shows a dark figure with a white bandana, the flag and coat of arms of the island, being strangled in the water by a cable next to a hydroelectric dam. In Corsican and French, the poster reads: “A cable meant to strangle. Corsica wants to live. Yes to dams!” The poster mobilizes potent nationalism symbolism as the heraldic “Moor’s Head” of Corsica is literally strangled, symbolizing the death of the nation. This is aided by the text equating hydroelectric energy (dams) with life and nuclear power with death. It does however maintain a distinctly nationalist message; the nation of Corsica is in danger, rather than a global threat.

Today, however, the Corsican nationalist movement frames its green aspirations differently. In the 2019 manifesto of the Pè a Corsica (For Corsica) coalition, the largest sub-state nationalist political party on the island and EFA member ⁶ , one of the main policy goals reads:

The nationalist movement still frame environmental policies as linked to autonomy, as it is asserted Corsica cannot undertake a green energy shift without increased competencies, but the emphasis is on climate change as a global challenge with local solutions, quite distinct from the local conservation efforts of the 1970s.

Other minority nationalist posters make similar connections between ecology and demands for autonomy. One of the most striking—and arguably most successful—examples is the Galician campaign and NGO “Plataforma Nunca Máis” (“Never Again Platform”) characteristic 2002 poster (see Figure 8). The poster protests and commemorates the major environmental disaster known as the Prestige oil spill off the coast of Galicia in 2002. The Prestige oil spill polluted thousands of kilometers of coastline with 60.000 tons of heavy fuel oil, irreversibly harming local marine- and wildlife and crippling the Galician fishing industry.

Formed by a myriad of associations following, the Nunca Máis platform is closely related to the BNG. The poster’s designer, Xosé María Torné, has worked on several BNG campaign posters, and the platform website www.plataformanuncamais.org is registered and maintained by BNG personnel. The poster is austere, with stark white lettering on a black background spelling “Never Again”. The diagonal blue line evokes the national flag of Galicia, but the background color is inverted from white to black, symbolizing sorrow. In this way, the potent national symbol of the Galician flag is turned on its head, from symbolizing pride and community to gravity and despair. As with other campaign posters mentioned in this article, it evokes a linkage between environment, territory and the nation by its use of one of the most potent national symbols, the flag. The slogan has become well known across Spain and was re-used in the fight against forest fires in Galicia in 2006, as well as by the BNG in a campaign honouring the Galician victims of Francoism in 2018, showing its versatility as both an ecological message and a more territorially political one. In the BNG’s 2017 Statute of Principles, the “modern” EFA frame bridging between environmentalism and autonomy that outlines climate change as a global phenomenon with local solutions is evident:

Concretely, the BNG has proposed a Galician law against the climate crisis, including the protection of the landscape and ecosystems and addressing issues of mobility, waste, energy, mining and water management. The party has also called for the creation of a crisis cabinet to act on the climate emergency (emerxencia climática) (Europa press, 2019) and party leaders have railed against what they term “apostles of climate emergency denial” such as United States president Donald Trump or Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro (20 Minutos 2019).