When I think back 15 years ago when I started University, climate change was a relatively emerging topic. Actually when I think about it, some students presented assignments on the potential impacts of climate change as a new and emerging topic.
Today I think we can agree that the accelerated increase of global temperatures due to greenhouse gas emissions generated from human related activities is widely accepted. We can also probably agree that there is sufficient information available regarding mitigating measures that can be implemented.
So if we have the information – why isn’t there global action?
These are some of my ideas:
Environmental fatigue: When you hear about climate change or another environmental issue too often, particularly if the message is not too varied, then this can lead to fatigue or numbness to the message. Have we heard too much about climate change?
Optimism bias: Being optimistic is generally great. However, if everyone is overly optimistic then this can lead to issues regarding not implementing change. In the case of climate change, there is often great optimism regarding technological changes that will be implemented or our ability to easily adapt in the future and so we think we don’t have to make changes today.
In the future: Do we really want to make changes now that may take years to improve the situation? Most people and business tend to work in the immediate to short term so shifting your thinking to the longer term can be difficult.
Comparisons with other people: People compare their actions to other people. In regards to climate change, it could be that you think other people or areas will be affected more that you so it is someone else’s problem. Or why make changes yourself if others are not making the change?
So we may have many of the solutions now which could improve the future outlook in regards to climate change. However, having all of the information available doesn’t necessarily mean action. It is typically much more complex than this.
What do you think?