Stop Saving The Planet, Start Saving Your Arse!!
Paul Barnes
Global Mobility Procurement Consultant: Optimising tender processes (PQQ, RFI, RFP, RFQ) to maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and drive success. Passionate advocate for advances in Sustainability.
Is it just me, or has the human race missed the forest for the trees when it comes to the narrative around climate change?
We talk, research, and report on the importance of changing our behavior to protect planet Earth and the environment. We’re proud that our evolving scientific methods can prove that our footprint on planet Earth has destroyed species, plant life, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.
We pat ourselves on the back for stopgap solutions in first-world countries like recycling, water conservation, and electric transportation. But we’re content turning a blind eye to the populous and poor areas of the world whose communities never get the chance to benefit from these advancements.
While we busy ourselves with research and solutions to protect the environment from our existence, we avoid the hard truth: the planet doesn’t care about us as much as we claim to care about her. And it’s our existence that is in immediate jeopardy.
Our quest to save the planet is a diversion from the uncomfortable truth that we will be the ones to become extinct while Earth lives on for a few billion more years (in peace, most likely). Earth doesn’t care if we survive our own destruction or not, in fact, the sooner we’re gone, the sooner the planet can heal its many ecosystems.
Maybe it’s time to look at the problem through a new lens where we’re not the heroes riding in on our EVs to save the planet but instead to save ourselves, to give our species the gift of longevity while working in harmony with our environment. We have the data to do it, we have the intelligence and entrepreneurial spirit to innovate, now we just have to link the narrative of a healthier planet to a longer and healthier lifespan for the human race.
But are we too selfish and unwilling to inconvenience ourselves with lifestyle choices that will benefit the many versus the few?
Climate change has a branding problem
Yes, branding. Because even scientific, doomsday headlines meant to shock us into better behavior are a marketing tactic at their core.
When the average person thinks of climate change, what comes to mind are headlines about greenhouse gas emissions or the astounding percentage of plastic that is ineligible to be recycled. These messages are shocking and backed by data but aren’t driving the necessary changes in behavior among the masses to increase our rate of survival as a species.
This type of messaging directs our focus to the planet and the environment we live in, it doesn’t always connect the dots to our own mortality or quality of life. Branding climate change as a “planet problem” sidesteps the immediacy of our extinction as a human race.
To change the narrative, we could ask ourselves how people outside of the scientific or activist communities talk about climate change. Does the average person discuss greenhouse gases at the dinner table, or rising sea levels at happy hour? Would they take action if we could frame the issue first as a quality-of-life problem for us, and then a problem for the planet? (Both of which would be solved by the same solutions).
A new climate change narrative needs to relate to the average person and speak to convenient and simple changes in his or her life that will promote the health of humanity and, consequently, our planet. The more frequently we hear and see the same message, the less shocking it becomes. Therefore, do we need a constant change of messaging to drive curiosity and action among the masses.
Climate change, the reboot
If we orchestrate a narrative that focuses on the slow extinction of the human race (death by dirty, chemical-infused water, anyone?) the average person might be motivated to make simple, convenient changes in behavior that we as a species and ultimately the planet will reap the benefits of.
It’s not about abandoning the science, the research, or the passion. It’s about re-framing the story to motivate the masses to make small changes and put pressure on wide scale polluters that add up to a worthy impact. Remember, the planet doesn’t actually care about us. It will survive long after we're gone. But wouldn’t it be nice if we improved our relationship with the Earth and our quality of life while we’re here??
Article Written by Lauren Halonen (Your Move Copy Writing) & Paul Barnes (Inspire Global Mobility Consulting)
Global Mobility Procurement Consultant: Optimising tender processes (PQQ, RFI, RFP, RFQ) to maximize efficiency, reduce costs, and drive success. Passionate advocate for advances in Sustainability.
11 个月Fascinating Read: An intriguing article looking into the practice of naming storms and whether they require scarier names to heighten awareness. This aligns with our recent article which explores the possibility of re branding climate change.
Chief Commercial Officer at Voerman Group
1 年Paul Barnes very much liked your observations. See a lot of behaviour where people talk about the topics and say it’s important but no action taken. Crisis it is but in a crisis also opportunities arise for those who are willing to think differently, act and get involved. Keep on going this year on addressing the topics and lead the industry on this.
Thanks Paul Barnes, I like this different perspective on the crisis. Media also needs to change the way they report, going beyond sensational headlines and focus on the personal human stories impacted by the climate crisis - climate refugees, crop failures, mental health impacts, cost to the economy and taxpayers and so on. As a consumer, employee and voter we can also hold organizations and governments accountable to sustainable practices and support those that protect our environment and society. As you mention easy and understandable steps we can all take to make a difference in our consumer/lifestyle choices that have the biggest impact (i.e. travel, the food we eat - how much carbon will be saved reducing red meat consumption for example). As we get closer to 2030 and big commitment targets from MNCs there will likely be a mad scramble to get the carbon figures balanced. From our industry perspective we should all be driving the change needed, supporting companies with innovative sustainable practices and having the discussions with our managers and HR leaders to drive change within our policies and practices to reduce our impact on the planet.
Doutora em Engenharia Ambiental | Design Constructal e Regenerativo | Investigando como fazer de tecnologias limpas solu??es ecológicas
1 年Hi Paul Barnes thanks for tagging me in such an important discussion! I think you raise important points - notably, that most people don't understand the level in which climate crisis represents an existential threat. And if more people grasped that, perhaps it would bring change. However, I don't personally subscribe to the narrative you propose because I don't think it fundamentally mends our relationship with Earth and each other. "Nature" and "Earth" will be fine, yes, but they're not a single thing... But a diversity of beings. We are responsible for species being extinct which won't come back even if humans are gone. We need to claim responsibility for that in my view, and cultivate a relationship of reciprocity to Earth. Otherwise we may not go very far because the same reasoning of saving ourselves that excludes nature as our responsibility may be used by people in power to save themselves and exclude other people. This is my two cents - appreciate your article and am grateful to be part of this discussion!
Sustainability & Communications Manager at FIDI Global Alliance
1 年That's a sentence I can imagine myself using ;) Absolutely spot on, Paul Barnes and Lauren Halonen, GMS-T : if we want to save our arses (and those of our children and grand-children), we need to pull our fingers out* and start DOING, without waiting for legislation or clients or the neighbours to force us. Some things will be easy (paper tape instead of plastic), some will be damn hard (no more flying to confererences and business-class tropical holidays, anyone?). I feel that business in general and the global mobility industry in particular should stop focusing only on compliance details, reporting fads and at what their competitors are doing wrong, and actually start DOING. By looking beyond the competitive edge and looking for solutions at scale. There are many individuals actively doing this (shout out to the GM sustainability ninjas ?? out there!), but not enough companies, IMHO. The good thing is that everybody will start to feel the legislative burn soon, that will maybe speed things up... In the meantime, count me in to keep the contentious debate going! *pardon my French - but you started using indecent language ??