Climate change crisis: The world's richest 16% are responsible for 74% of excess energy consumption

ArabiaWeather - While the world is dealing with a range of environmental crises, the various responses that have emerged over the last half of the last century appear to have failed significantly. Recent research indicates that the priority now must be to address the real root of these crises, which is our behaviors that lack the ability to adapt. For at least five decades, scientists have worked to understand and document how human needs exceed the Earth's ability to regenerate, leading to what is known as "ecological overshoot."

Warnings about climate change have never been more serious

Perhaps those warnings about potential threats from overtaking, including climate change, are a bit naive. The researchers assumed that people and governments would logically respond to existential threats by radically changing their behaviors.

In the 1970s, young researchers presented computer models of the limits to growth and showed clearly what might happen over the next century if economic growth continued in the conventional way. Their models predicted the environmental and social catastrophes we are witnessing today. They believed that once people saw the results of this research, they would understand the path the world was taking and reduce their consumption accordingly. Instead, they found their work rejected and the world continued as before.

Over the past five decades, we have seen countless reports, speeches and statements that are sharp in their predictions, but there have been no significant changes in the path of economic growth. In 1992, the first global warning to humanity was published in an open letter signed by hundreds of scientists, detailing how human activities lead to environmental harm. Then another warning came in 2017 and was signed by thousands of scholars, and it clearly stated:

“If the world does not act soon, there will be catastrophic losses of biodiversity and untold levels of human misery.”

If climate change is not combated, a horrific future awaits the world

In research conducted in collaboration between Mike Joy, a senior researcher at the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies Te Hiringa Waka - Victoria University of Wellington, and Phoebe Barnard, founder and CEO of the Stable Planet Alliance, who are also researchers at the University of Washington and the Stable Planet Initiative, as well as the Fitzpatrick Institute at the University of Cape Town. Town.

He revealed that many scientists working in the natural sciences felt they had to do everything in their power to prevent this “apocalyptic future” from unfolding. Researchers have even developed a framework of actions the world must take to avoid this future. These actions include population planning and reducing individuals' consumption of fossil fuels, meat, and other resources. However, only a few substantive changes have been achieved on the ground.

The world's richest 16% are responsible for 74% of excess energy consumption

Using a new methodology, the research highlights intervention points and clarifies the behavioral roots of environmental transgression. The research involved behavior change specialists from the marketing industry, part of the Behavior Change for Human and Planet Health initiative. The research shows the statistics clearly, revealing that the richest 16% of humanity are responsible for 74% of overconsumption and use of resources. This reality reflects a crisis in human behaviour, attributing it to individual choices that include resource acquisition, extravagance, and the accumulation of wealth and status. Some of these choices may have been feasible in humans' evolutionary past, but in the modern global economy, these behaviors have become maladaptive and pose a threat to all complex forms of life on Earth.

The climate change crisis must be solved at its roots

The researchers point out that current climate change measures, which are just a symptom of environmental overreach, fail to control emissions effectively. Last year, global carbon dioxide emissions reached a new high, in part due to the rise in air travel following the repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this context, the researchers believe that trying to solve a growing problem using slow solutions is actually part of the problem. Instead, we should address the root causes of environmental abuse and the drivers behind this behavior, and focus on changing them rather than focusing our efforts on fixing multiple symptoms.

The current "solution" to address climate change by completely switching to renewable energy systems is one example, where one type of energy is replaced by another, but it does not address the growing energy demand that has contributed to environmental overrun in the first place. These interventions are gradual, cumbersome on resources, slow to implement and ineffective, as they aim to maintain current consumption levels without managing them. These interventions propagate an “illusion of growth,” where it is falsely believed that technology will allow humanity to avoid the need for change.

Changing human behaviour...the best solution to confront environmental problems

To overcome the critical disconnect between science, economics, and public understanding of environmental issues, an interdisciplinary response will be urgently needed.

According to the researchers, one of the interesting paradoxes here is that the marketing, media and entertainment industries, which play an essential role in directing human behavior regarding obtaining and wasting resources, may be the best way to redirect this behavior and contribute to avoiding environmental collapse.

Logically, the same behavioral strategies that encouraged overconsumption can be used to promote sustainable behavior and create the need for sustainability.

Understanding the multiple factors of the behavioral crisis, including the influence of power structures and special interests in the market economy, is crucial. Confronting these forces and convincing them or even attracting them to contribute to reforming the economy and correcting the damage represents the greatest challenge. This will require joint, multidisciplinary efforts to determine the best means to create new standards for consumption, reproduction, and waste disposal. The goal is to maintain complex life on Earth.

Source: greenfue