What Stops Personal Action on Climate Change?
August 15, 2009
Everyone involved in some way in sustainability or environmental work can’t help but get pissed off and frustrated at the bozos who still idle their monster pick-ups in July while they’re in the liquor store, or the penile implant warehouse outlet.
How bloody much more information, research, cajoling, scary facts, threats from David Suzuki, heat waves and forest fires do we all need before we’ll accept the urgency of climate change and actually DO something significant to stop gushing so much CO2 into the neighbourhood?
Well, according to the American Psychological Association and a huge new report on this very topic, it’s going to take a lot more. The 230-page report (whichi ncludes a 50-page bibliography!), with the nice user-friendly title of Psychology and Global Climate Change: Addressing a Multi-faceted Phenomenon and Set of Challenges – A Report by the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change, and written by no less than 8 PhD’s, lays out the picture in detail… and it’s not that pretty.
The authors spend a fair bit of time outlining the many psychological barriers to individual action and climate change, and the list is long, including things like:
- Discounting the future and the remote
- Numbness or apathy
- Ignorance
- Uncertainty
- Mistrust and reactance
- Denial
- Judgmental discounting
- Place attachment
- Habit
- Perceived behavioral control
- Perceived risks from behavioral change
- Tokenism and the rebound effect
- Social comparison, norms, conformity, and perceived equity
- Conflicting goals and aspirations
- Belief in solutions outside of human control
Not surprisingly, a big part of the solution for the authors is, well, more research.
Wonderful. All we got is time.
Jacques LeCavalier & Associates Inc.
Sustainability Learning that Sticks!
Kelowna, BC
250-764-1166
http://www.jacqueslecavalier.com/
recently, there has been some massive flooding in the Philippines and Vietnam which i think is also due to Climate Change. the tropical storms in asia are somewhat getting stronger stronger each year.
Climate Change made the typhoons in the south pacific very destructive. Typhoon Ketsana made a lot of mess in Philippines and Vietnam *
Global Warming and Climate Change is the biggest environmental issue that we face these days. the long term effects of these environmental changes to a nations economy is quite damaging. there would be a shortage in food supply as well as on water supply too.
Climate Change made the typhoons in the south pacific very destructive. Typhoon Ketsana made a lot of mess in Philippines and Vietnam *