The administration of Donald Trump is planning to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. An Inconvenient Truth (2006) is a documentary about Global Warming that has been published already 11 years ago. Nations around the world are upping their game in the fight against climate change. At the Paris climate summit in 2015, 195 countries signed a historic agreement to reduce their carbon emissions, with the goal of limiting future warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. I'm a Msc student Environmental Economics at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and I believe global warming is a very interesting subject as it confronts ourselves with our own behaviour. I believe that Global Warming is an economically and environmentally unsustainable outcome in the long-term. But still it happens, and why?
Hard facts show that the increase in global CO2 emissions has not decreased, it appears to increase exponentially.
So, an Inconvenient Truth has been published 11 years ago and how have we been doing since then?
Figure 1: global CO2 emissions 1995-2013
Figure 2: an overview of global CO2 emissions relative to 2005
Observing these graphs it's easy to blame developing countries for not living up to the CO2 emission agreements but in reality we're actually all responsible for that. Mass production often takes place in developing countries and we are the ones that import those goods. So indirectly we are responsible for those emissions too. For example deforestation and palm oil production increases indirectly due to our consumption choices.
During our study we did some interviews to combine the human rationale with potential causes of unsustainable behaviour.
Finding #1: people behave self-interested
It might be interesting to approach environmental problems from a behavioural economic perspective. One of the assumptions I have learned is that people tend to free-ride and behave in self-interest (see Game Theory). This means that we rather pay the low price for the cheaper unsustainable products and let others do the job.
Finding #2: "not my problem"
Nowadays we're not directly impacted by global warming yet. It's a problem in the long-term but not yet a problem to ourselves. And as long as we don't feel impacted by it, we tend to not care that much.
Finding #3: individually, we feel like we won't make the difference
Another assumption I've learned by studying Behaviour Economics is that we often don't feel like we could make the difference. Behavioural economics also assumes the term: behaviour uncertainty. We are uncertain about whether others collaborate and behave sustainably. In such a case, Global Warming will worsen anyways, so why would I contribute? The world is a large place and in reality, that is true, but I believe that with collective action, we can achieve anything!
"It is our collective and invidual responsibility... to preserve and tend to the world in which we all live."
Quote by: Dalai Lama
Finding #4: a lack of knowledge
We're often not aware of our own behaviour and how it impacts Global Warming. We're often not even aware of the problematic environmental situation we're actually in and some people, like Trump, are even trying to deny it. Did you for example know that agriculture contributes to 14-18% of worldwide CO2 emissions? That's more than the impact of all cars around the world. Another fact about agricultural consumption; did you know that 1kg of meat requires 15.000 litres of water? Have you never heard of this? Time to watch the Cowspiracy!
How do you think about this? Are you agreeing with these findings or do you think differently? And how do you think you could contribute to the world and the environment?
Change The World? Begin With Yourself!
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Be careful with documentaries...they are very biased and show results that they want put across. Have you done any research showing rebutting Inconvenient Truth or Cowsprarcy? Lots of these scientists get paid federal grants and they need to justify their work to continue receiving these grants, so there is incentive to "prove" certain results.
We should always take into account that documentaries are biased. This doesn't mean that the data lies. The data is often based on official data which is yearly published by the World Resource Institute, a legit source to rely on. I believe that environmental problems are the reality, it's visible, it's measurable, etc. Not just Global Warming, but also fish stocks, rainforest areas and other natural resources.
With Environmental Economics we try to focus on how to make individuals feel responsible for their behaviour and it's still a difficult subject as I've mentioned that environmental problems are not directly visible. I've not been occupied with denying or proving the environmental state we're in. I'm more interested in how we as individuals behave and why we do or do not believe and contribute to sustainability! ;-)
I feel people are going to behave based on economical and political views. Some people just want the cheapest thing on sale and they don't care where it came from (GMO, pasture raised, grain fed). Others want convenience...fast food/microwave meals. Then there are those that want quality and care about things such as organic and free range, and are willing to pay a premium ex Wild Salmon. In terms of Poloitics, I find people on the left side (Democrats/Progressives) tend to care more about climate change. Whatever your cup of tea, I'm all for sustainable farming and preserving wild fish. I just feel the climate stuff is fear mongering and profitable for those who push it. Convenient how their solution is a Carbon tax. AKA...Money
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Thank you for this absolutely necessary text.