I went to a Think Tank on Climate Change organized by the Global Leadership Program that I am following at Macquarie University. The Global Leadership Program is a voluntary initiative followed by students from any discipline in order to develop and apply global skills through studying, volunteering and participating in activities. Many of the activities are related to sustainable development (SD). In this case the three hours Think Tank was organized to bring a discussion of how this complex subject is a big challenge for humanity and how leadership and action is needed.
For me, this was an excellent opportunity to reflect on the role of EfSD in Climate Change. Doctor Chris Riedy, associate professor at University of Technology Sydney UTS, was the lecturer in charge of this session. Professor Riedy briefly told us that he worked at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, where the main task is to influence in driving change on diverse aspects of SD. Then he asked the class to reflect around what were the causes of climate change, what was the current state and if it was necessary to take action.We all agreed on the necessity of urgent action, the scientific evidence is strong and the effects are already visible. However, the debate of climate change persists and there are a faction of disbelievers that question the influence of humanity on this major problem. According to the lecturer, over 97% of peer reviewed scientific papers agreed on the influence of human activity in climate change. We talked about the earth mechanisms to recover, however the real threat is to human’s life itself and others species. The changes are so fast and drastic that the species can adapt or cope these modifications.
The question is why don’t we act? What do we need to learn in order to change our behaviors? Do we deny the science? What values and ideologies are influencing our paralysis? I intervened and stated how the political will and economic interests are impeding to address the required actions and strategies at global scale; not a new argument, but a necessary one from my point of view. Moreover, the media shows an apparently balanced debate where supporters and disbelievers have an equal evidence to support their arguments. Other times, the media just use the topic to scare the audience and sell, but with no reflections on what are the causes of this problem and what should be done to solve it. These reflections may be inconvenient, because it will raise necessary changes in several aspects, including consumption patterns. Let’s see what is happening in Australia. Different studies show that between 82.8% of Australians believe that climate change is really happening (CSIRO, 2011). Even though a smaller majority in Australia, a 50.4% believes that humans are causing it, while 40.2% thinks that this is a natural fluctuation in earth’s temperature (CSIRO, 2011).
We watched the typical Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) science video, explaining the Climate Change causes, characteristics and effects. We reviewed the pace on which effects will take place and the probable scenarios. The video concluded posing a reflection: It is society who decides the future, but are we really willing to drive change? A question to reflect on human’s behavior and role related with this problematic issue. Then we watched a second video that explained Climate Change in a simple language, using a lot of irony, criticizing human life styles and bringing an extra dose of pessimism. Here is the video.
Two depressing videos, that showed two different ways of raising this problem and how the discourse of climate change is trying to bring the involvement of society.We discussed in groups the messages of these videos, I saw that everyone seems to be freeze after such messages. In general, the reaction of the class was that none of the videos was inspiring to driving change. Instead, the videos presented an overwhelming problem that apparently has very low possibilities to be addressed individually. Climate Change is everyone’s problem but it is not in any individual. Again, I remembered the concept of the tragedy of the commons, a concept seen in environmental economics class. I continue reflecting; the discussion brought me to my country. I raised the case of Yasuni Park and how the Ecuadorian Government asked the international community to be compensated for not exploiting its oil reserves. The Yasuni Park is one of the most bio diverse places on earth. After 6 years of campaigning, Ecuador didn’t succeed on raising the necessary funds for not exploiting this reserve. The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, stated “El mundo nos ha fallado” or in English, “The world has failed us” (BBC, 2014). The result is that the Ecuadorian government has started to exploit the oil of this park. The class commented on how this case portrayed the tragedy of the commons.
I started to believe that the EfSD of Climate Change should think on how is possible to bring different reactions and behaviors when communication this problem. The messages of climate change are causing people to protect with different psychological mechanisms in order to avoid responsibilities and stay calm. Some of the common reactions are: Climate Change seems to be so far, it is not my responsibility, I can’t do anything, the others generation will solve the problem. Here the emotion responses of Australians to Climate Change:
Taken from CSIRO 2011, Baseline survey of Australian attitudes to climate change.
After looking at these reactions, I believe that understanding problems doesn’t necessary lead to action. There has to be a way to really inspire people to obtain a different response. We need to question our current system of values and at the same time generate optimism. What are the things we value? How do we measure economy? We might not be measuring the right things. Does income increase happiness? Is it all relative? We value what others have and we never get to be happy. Who is governing us? United States and Australia are governed by climate change disbelievers (in the case of US is the senate who is impeding climate change reforms). In my country, the president is also going against climate change reforms. Why politicians don’t react to people’s demands and worries? Is Climate Change an ethical, economic and environmental problem? I believe it is.
We ended the session with a dose of optimism, looking at possible solutions to the problem. The answers were educate more people, raise consciousness, prove the urgency and make people act. Penalize the polluters, amplify emissions trading schemes and other incentives. Create better transport solutions, develop more electric vehicles. Work with renewable sources of energy. Change how we grow food and where we eat, we need more farming into cities. Promote changes in urban design, bring nature into cities. We saw the example of Pixel building at Melbourne. We also reflect that Climate Change might bring possible effects as challenging humans to work together and create better ways to govern our resources. We had a final message to bring to our life, it is possible to beat climate change. The Think Tank ended, I was feeling hopeful but at the same time very tired.
Caption: Pixel Building Carlton, Melbourne Fresh Daily http://melbournedaily.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/pixel-building-carlton.html
Bibliography:
– BBC 2014, Correa: “El mundo nos ha fallado” http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/ultimas_noticias/2013/08/130815_ultnot_ecuador_correa_yasuni_mena_lav.shtml
– CSIRO 2011, Baseline survey of Australian attitudes to climate change http://www.csiro.au/~/media/CSIROau/Outcomes/Climate/Adapting/Climate%20attitudes/2011%20First%20survey%20of%20Australian%20attitudes%20to%20climate%20change.pdf.
– Melbourne Fresh Daily 2012, Pixon Building Carlton http://melbournedaily.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/pixel-building-carlton.html