Climate change is awful, sustainability is awesome. Although this is pretty well established, it is stupefying how many people don't act on it or have the immense cheek to outright deny it.
Here are my six reasons (with help from sources mentioned below) to explain why the entire world isn't rushing to fight climate change right now (and has more to do with psychology than the science behind climate change) -
1. What's in it for me attitude
We - as humans - generally think and fend for ourselves (and for our families at best). Thinking for the entire world is neither easy nor common. Moreover, even if we do make that leap, what's the reward I get for fighting climate change? It is difficult to convince someone with more pressing concerns of making ends meet or focused on making a ton of money when the reward for saving the world cannot be individualized.
2. Short-term nature
Like it or not, most of us are better at making short-term decisions. We'd prefer tangible short-term benefits now and would forgo more lucrative rewards available in the future. The reward here is not becoming extinct (or avoiding catastrophic damage) which should be a great long-term reward but it loses in front of a more comfortable way to access oil and continue driving. Moreover, the reward of our sacrifice today would accrue to the future generations and creates another layer of disconnect.
3. Inherent laziness
Humans are inherently lazy. It makes evolutionary sense to conserve our energy and take the shorter/easier path. Many people don't change until the situation becomes dire, and many tend to stick it out even when it is (case in point - people who stay back despite hurricane warnings). We suffer from an optimism bias that we can "solve" anything; we cured measles, we are curing cancer and we will somehow cure climate change.
4. The framing of climate change
Most people are aware of the dire consequences of continuing with the present way of living and economic activity. However, fast fashion, fracking and fossil fuels continue to dominate our economy. The climate change narrative has failed to capture the imagination of enough people which would lead them to action. Some psychologists suggest loss framing and using emotions instead of only facts to have a bigger impact. Irrespective of the better alternative, reading another scientific study telling us the world is getting hotter by 2 or 3 or 20 degrees won't have enough impact to create positive outcomes.
5. Diffusion of responsibility
This is my personal favourite. While working in group assignments, when there is no accountability/responsibility almost nothing gets done. Unless you have people/companies/governments that are all held responsible and are not allowed to get away with it, it is a little unlikely that material change will take place. The Paris Agreement is a good start but the accountability is pretty hard to measure and enforce (and powerful politicians calling climate change a hoax is so funny that it is sad).
6. Don't want to be first "sucker"
When the going gets tough, very few people are willing to be the first one to take the plunge. However, some companies and countries have taken the sustainability route and experienced great progress (case in point - Patagonia and Costa Rica) but they are treated as an exception or worse ignored.
The situation is pretty clear - change is the only way to solve this planet threatening predicament. Thankfully, scientists have overwhelming evidence on how and what to do with clear steps to be followed to solve this issue. Ironically, the process to get started - which is probably half the battle - seems almost impossible... which is why climate change is not just a problem of science but also a problem of human behaviour and psychology.
References -
1. Kluger, J. (2018, October 08). Why We Keeping Ignoring Climate Change Warnings. Retrieved from http://time.com/5418690/why-ignore-climate-change-warnings-un-report/
2. Mazutis, D., & Eckardt, A. (2017). Sleepwalking into Catastrophe: Cognitive Biases and Corporate Climate Change Inertia. California Management Review, 59(3), 74–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125617707974
Here are my six reasons (with help from sources mentioned below) to explain why the entire world isn't rushing to fight climate change right now (and has more to do with psychology than the science behind climate change) -
1. What's in it for me attitude
2. Short-term nature
3. Inherent laziness
4. The framing of climate change
5. Diffusion of responsibility
6. Don't want to be first "sucker"
The situation is pretty clear - change is the only way to solve this planet threatening predicament. Thankfully, scientists have overwhelming evidence on how and what to do with clear steps to be followed to solve this issue. Ironically, the process to get started - which is probably half the battle - seems almost impossible... which is why climate change is not just a problem of science but also a problem of human behaviour and psychology.
References -
1. Kluger, J. (2018, October 08). Why We Keeping Ignoring Climate Change Warnings. Retrieved from http://time.com/5418690/why-ignore-climate-change-warnings-un-report/
2. Mazutis, D., & Eckardt, A. (2017). Sleepwalking into Catastrophe: Cognitive Biases and Corporate Climate Change Inertia. California Management Review, 59(3), 74–108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125617707974
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