Climate emergency: things we can do to make change happen

We all know we need to take action to tackle climate change, and while we don’t have all the answers we do basically know what we need to do.  The barrier we consistently struggle with is making action happen, the problem is not technological but psychological.

When considering how to address this I think it is useful to think in terms of three groups; government, business and consumers.  They are are of course all interlinked and many of us will have a foot in more than one camp.  I would like to suggest the following ideas as a way forward.

Government    

As citizens and voters I think we need to talk more to our MPs and councillors, we need to make it clear that this is something that we want to see more action on.  I think a key thing is to encourage cross party working and discourage politicisation of the issue and the solutions.  This will make the consistent long term planning we need more likely.

Governments will always be subject to lobbying from businesses and financial interests but fundamentally they need voters in order to win elections, so we as the voting public have the ultimate power.  We can also use our personal contacts and spheres of influence to encourage others to use their influence.  The more consistent the pressure is, the more change happens.

Business    

Many businesses are invested in the current way of working and the changes that are needed involve a change in mindset.  Those of us in business can re-frame what we do in order to become more purpose driven and prioritise sustainability and reducing pollution.  However this requires that it is done honestly, and that we don’t slip into greenwash.

Where making a change in challenging, rather than lobbying to maintain the status quo, we need to lobby governments to level the playing field.  We need changes that allow sustainable solutions to be more profitable than the unsustainable ones.  To put it bluntly once business can make more money doing the right thing, market forces and business profit motivation will do the rest.

Companies need to market sustainable options as the desirable choice.  As consumers we need to feel we are gaining status from making sustainable choices, instead of from just having more of the newest stuff.

Consumers

As consumers we have the ultimate power, and we need to be talking to the companies we spend our money with.  The more customers tell business they want to see sustainable solutions and vote with their money, the more companies will be forced to become more sustainable in order to be competitive.  This can range from the shops we buy food from to the companies that supply our gas and electric.

We need to make it clear that companies putting profit over and above our futures is not acceptable.  We also need to find ways to show our sustainable spending in honest and authentic ways!  This might sound like virtue seeking, but leading by example and setting social norms is a powerful driver.

I’m interested to know if this resonates, or if you have other ideas for better ways forward.