The CAPS social media pages recently shared a post from the Imagine newsletter from The Conversation, looking at why personal climate action matters – according to experts, which has garnered a bit of interest.
And to highlight just a couple of snippets from these experts, taking personal action does seem to make sense:
“Net zero heroes” are set up to fail.. But realising this only makes collective action more important, and shows the futility of trying to bear the weight of the problem on your own. [science communicator Sam Illingworth]
“Complementarity holds that the relationships that unite individual things can extend to prove the value of every contribution, no matter its size,” [ethicist Patrick] Effiong Ben says.
“In a survey I conducted, half of the respondents who knew someone who has given up flying because of climate change said they fly less because of this example. That alone seemed pretty impressive to me.” [Steve Westlake, a behavioural psychologist]
“Fortunately, in new research we found that using 60% less energy than today, decent living standards could be provided to a global population of 10 billion by 2050 – or as much energy as the world used in the 1960s.” [sustainability researcher Joel Millward-Hopkins]
And remember that it isn’t all sacrifice. The joy that is possible with more expensive and more energy-hungry lifestyles is fleeting says [environmental psychologist Stuart] Capstick, but contentment, he argues, is low-carbon.
It all makes up for a very interesting discussion – much of which is referenced in this article – and which is taken forward in further pieces on The Conversations pages, for example
Think your efforts to help the climate don’t matter? African philosophers disagree
Climate change: yes, your individual action does make a difference
To finish, it sounds too good to be true, but in a further article the experts say that greener lifestyle are linked to greater happiness – in both rich and poor countries:
This should be good news for campaigners and policymakers alike. Rather than assume that doing the right thing for the environment needs to be a burden, we should be finding ways to stress the positive potential. Improving wellbeing and addressing the climate crisis can be both cost-effective and socially appealing. Initiatives and campaigns designed to promote environmentally friendly behaviour would do well to stress the value of action for both people and planet.
With a perfect illustration of that from the Community Food Forest down at Sidford – who were demonstrating local food @ the ECO HUB last Saturday:
Photography by Tess Bisson: Sidmouth Community Food Forest | Great work by a dedicated bunch of people this afternoon – thanks so much all, including Sidmouth Arboretum Trust for the plants | Facebook
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