Nobody can negotiate with nature – the planet will survive any climate change, but human beings might not. People want growth (defined as being “better off” and “having more choices”), welfare, security, jobs, and their health - and in the Western world we appear to largely deliver that. Certainly half the world’s population is currently striving to copy our system - a pity it’s failing! If the system was successful, “growth” would be in balance with our energy consumption and environmental health.

We cannot allow this situation to be some sort of beauty contest for our future. You and I really are using too many resources, too fast. Less then one billion people have already used half the available oil supplies on the planet, for example, and now 7-10 billion are competing for the second half. This is not a sustainable model, which is necessary if it’s to be successful and to deliver worldwide growth.

Climate change is a clear indication that our systems have failed, and that we need to change our own habits. To do this we need to change the way we think about them. I don’t believe it needs to be termed “easy” or “difficult” to change a habit – merely “different.”

We could use Abraham Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” to explain this – see his pyramid, with man’s more “primitive” or physiological needs as the four lower layers, and his “growth” or psychological needs at the top. Only when the needs of one layer is met can a person seek to satisfy their needs in the layer above. Using an example in Wikipedia, for instance, a businessman who is diagnosed with cancer will spend a great deal of time concentrating on his health (physiological needs), but will continue to value his work performance (“esteem” needs) and will probably return to work during periods of remission.

What we as a race need to do is to constantly aim towards the “self actualisation” or “growth” level, so we can move beyond our selfish needs and accept facts without prejudice, and even start to be concerned about others on the planet. In other words, we very probably caused this climate crisis and even if we didn’t, we have the power to fix it.

Stig Ehnbom
Chairman, Swedish Style Organising Committee