The Only Way to Sustainability Is by Changing Human Behaviour

After just having written about learning to learn again, I thought I might just post something about what I have learned, and what better than the conclusion, in summary, of the course? I have now spent 8 weeks looking at various aspects of sustainability, population, climate change, our use of the commons, policy etc. And as in the beginning of the course, the one big question is still: Is the world on an unsustainable path?

How has the course changed my view? Not much, I must say. I started out thinking that the main problem with managing our planet sustainably is human behaviour. We have the technology to solve most problems, we know a lot about the science behind natural processes and how to utilise them sustainably, but where we struggle is human behaviour, how we treat our world. Policy is a powerful tool that could help on the way to change our behaviour, and to some extent it does, we have seen several examples of Pigovian taxes or incentive-based policies that have helped bring about an improvement in for example air quality and water pollution remediation in most developed countries, compared to say 60 years ago. Nonetheless, it still isn't enough.

We know that we have to stop being dependent on fossil fuels. Our current carbon dioxide emissions are unsustainable, and the IPCC agrees that only immediate action will avoid the worst, no matter which prediction model you look at among the peer reviewed and accepted scenarios. We are too late to avoid an impact already, so we will have to mitigate and adapt, but to avoid the worst we have to act now.

The problem is, human behaviour is not so easily changed. We like our traditions, we look at our individual and immediate gain rather than for long-term benefits. In chapter 10.8 on Sustainability Ethics we have read that there are very few ethics, despite it being the obvious thing to do, that care for our offspring, our future generations. We tend to look at quick fixes, some of which simply make things worse, e.g. sending sulphate aerosols into the sky to deflect radiation, despite the side effects that may make things worse for us. Our decision making follows the same longing for immediate benefits. Our political systems elect government into office for a stretch of a few limited years, and in order to attract voters politicians promise whatever seems to be most popular at the moment, which usually includes a reduction in taxes or other monetary benefits for the wider population. We do want change, but we don't want to pay for it. We don't realise that we will pay for it if we continue like this, nobody else will pick up the tab for their own pollution as long as they aren't forced to do so, and the wider population will get stuck with the price to pay, disproportionally affecting the poorer population.

Money also plays a part in policy making and enforcement. The big money in energy business will continue to encourage use of fossil fuels or nuclear power, and influence policy and other governmental decisions with monetary incentives, either in direct bribery, or by contributing in some other, legal or semi-legal, way to a country's economy, leaving us with increasing carbon emissions and nuclear waste that has nowhere to go. Still, our dependency on energy and other consumption leading to pollution is something that is difficult to give up, and most people will continue to strive for this lifestyle, so what we really need is a change in behaviour to accept alternatives that may be slightly inferior at this stage. However, without more pressure from the majority of the population nothing will change anytime soon. Not until it is too late.

In conclusion, we do have the means available to avoid the worst catastrophes, but that will involve us humans learning to change our behaviour. We have to use less energy, consume less fossil-fuel-dependent goods, eat less meat, and in general, behave in a more environmentally-friendly way. It may not seem much, but every little helps. And only by starting with the little things will we convince decision-makers to enforce change in the big things. We all have to learn, we all have to change, it is too late to stay with business as usual. And I feel very tempted to end with an encouraging “let's start today”, but it will be yet another years or decades before enough of us have realised the need for change to make an impact big enough to really mitigate climate change. I am sure we will get there. We have no other choice.