For a long time I have tried to figure out the reason why people do so little to reduce carbon emissions and help stop damaging climate change. Sure it seems a lot of the answers are found on sites like how to talk to a climate sceptic, Climate Myth Busters, or Global Warming FAQ. But there was something more that eluded me, until now…
The enlightening moment came during a recent email conversation.
It all started with my request to make a sustainability event carbon neutral. I sent an email to the person in charge of sustainability outlining how it was necessary to 'walk the talk' and account for the carbon footprint of the event. The names of the event and person are withheld to protect their privacy.
Here is their response:
“Hi
Thank you for your emails. In response:
1. [The] event - I believe the majority of our carbon footprint for this event will come from electricity. We also actively encourage participants to walk/ride/public transport to the event. As [we] already purchases 25% GreenPower for our high profile facilities... I don't think we'll need to spend more to further 'neutralise' the event.”
Can you see the answer? Do you start to see why people do so little?
I responded as nicely as possible, trying to mask my frustration!
“Hi xxx
Okay. But you see how hard my job is?
You can tell people that human carbon emissions cause damaging climate change.
You can tell them we have already emitted so much carbon dioxide that there will be unavoidable consequences.
You can tell them it is urgent that we do everything we can to reduce emissions to minimise the consequences.
And yet people, included those who work in the area such as you, believe that doing a little bit is enough. They don’t think that it is important enough to do everything they can.”
Is this why poeple do so little for climate change? Do most people believe a little bit is enough? Do most people think it is
not important we do everything we can?
