Our Paths to Climate Change

Our investigation of people’s lifestyles and how they are affected by their concern for climate change have revealed that the various facets of our identity and how it is formed have direct implications into how we become aware of climate change, why we care about it and ultimately the actions we take to reduce our impact.

Climate change is increasingly becoming a main topic of debate (contrary to its lack of presence in the current US election cycle). It feels as though we are at a critical moment in this debate, with some suggesting it requires immediate and drastic action to limit its affects. So then, when I was asked to help run a study on climate change and what people think of it I jumped at the opportunity.

Over the last few weeks my colleague, Stefana Broadbent, and I conducted ethnographic research with a wide range of people, trying to understand the associations and behaviours individuals have towards climate change. While there were interesting insights discovered, we found one of particular interest for this post: our research shows that what triggers our awareness of climate change, what moves and affects us and the actions we take to reduce our impact, emerge from our personal histories and the various aspects of our identity. Logical to some but it has important implications nonetheless.

What follows are a few examples of the various ways our informants’ identities influenced their associations and behaviours towards climate change ending with a brief discussion how we can use this understanding to further our movement towards a more climate friendly existence.

Connection To The Land

One of our informants spoke about her Italian upbringing and how it was one of the first ways she became aware of climate change. Her being Italian and having grand parents who were peasants links food seasonality to a very deeply rooted understanding of agriculture and food cycle. One of her first indicators of climate change was sensing a change in how the seasons behaved, becoming more erratic with time. Coupled with the increasing presence in the media she was spurred into action, reducing her consumption and eating only seasonal foods.

Influence of Faith

Another of our informants spoke of her Scottish and religious background as ways in which she became motivated to mitigate her impact on the climate. In both, social justice is a key pillar and though she no longer practices her faith, she continues to advocate for social justice. Climate change often adversely affects those of less means than those who do and so for her climate change is not just an environmental issue but more importantly a social justice issue. She actively thinks about how almost all her actions affect the climate, making her very strategic about her lifestyle — be it smaller behaviour changes like eating locally or grand gestures like giving up flying for a year.

Lack of Awareness

In some cases, due to far more pressing issues dominating their society, climate change was not even a topic our informants were aware of until quite recently. This is particularly true for our Brazilian informant, who moved to the UK in the last few years to pursue a master’s degree. In her view, climate change wasn’t a priority or topic of discussion for Brazil until recently because ‘people were still dying of starvation on the streets, we had to take care of our people first’. While she agrees that everyone should do their part to mitigate their impact on the climate, she does find it hypocritical for developed countries, which damaged the environment for their growth, to tell developing countries to limit their growth now. She does see signs of her country becoming more aware and actively taking action to limit its impact. On a personal level she has now begun a PhD focusing on the legislative realities of sustainable energy in Brazil — combining her previous experience as a lawyer with her newfound interest in climate change.

Generational Perspective

For many of those we interviewed there was a sense of obligation to help out their fellow global citizens who, while not sharing a physical presence, were connected to in a meaningful way. I contribute this to one of the defining characteristics of the Millennial Generation — with the rise of a truly digitally connected global population, Millennials share a strong sense of empathy for those in their cohort beyond traditional borders or other limiting constructs. Thus while our informants are not themselves severely affected by disasters caused by climate change, they feel compelled to do their part to help those who are. This is not to say global empathy is only for Millennials, just that it features high on their list for being involved in climate change action.

For those at the older end of the Boomer generation, a sense of thriftiness was instilled in them early on. Hence they feel their impact on the climate is already naturally curtailed by their lack of consumption.

Philosopher’s Stone

For others it comes from an highly intellectualised place. Two of our informants studied Philosophy for their bachelors degree and spoke of how this degree impressed upon them an ethical imperative to do their part in fighting to stop climate change. While both were brought up in environmentally conscious households, it was their degrees which pushed them into action, such as campaigning for structural changes to society as a whole.

Class and Sexual Identity

For one of our informants, his passion for fighting against climate change is directly linked to his sexual identity and social class to which he belongs. Having grown up in a traditional working class family, he gained a strong foundation for socialism and was quite civics-minded. He channeled this first into anti-racism activism and then very quickly into environmental activism. But he also saw his interest in activism as a model to process and accept his own sexual identity as a gay man. By fighting for those who were also being oppressed, he was fighting for himself as well. From him, actions need to be part of a wider social movement questioning the socio-political system in which we live.

So What? Let’s Talk

While all our informants bring with them different attitudes, stories, experiences and expectations, they all have some sense of obligation to do their part to fight climate change. They are doing what is most compatible with their moral reading of the situation. So then when envisaging actions one must consider a whole palette so that they will fit in these various sets of value systems.

But this can also liberate us from another constraint which seems to exist within the climate change discussion: most of our informants often do not speak to others about their personal beliefs or actions. Often a perceived preachiness stems from the old discourse of ‘you have to do your part to stop climate change because it’s the right thing to do’ and stops many from openly discussing the topic. To change this we must try to elaborate on a new language of understanding, one that takes into account the various paths into being more climate friendly, so that we can move away from a perceived preachiness into an inclusive and constructive conversation.

“If You Want to” is a collaborative platform to map, organise and make easily accessible green services for a sustainable lifestyle. Join us at iywto.com