WE’RE NOT JUST SAVING THE PLANET, WE’RE SAVING OURSELVES
The world is facing a climate crisis, but how many of us really care?
Phrases such as “Save the Planet” and “Save the Earth” have mistakenly framed the climate emergency as a distant and esoteric affair, not “personal” enough to resonate with the everyday masses, who are too busy making ends meet. Many would perceive the climate emergency as the responsibility of environmental scientists and policymakers, not one the common folk ought to be worried about.
Furthermore, a 2013 study led by psychologist Nadia Bashir has also found that individuals often held negative stereotypes towards activism, and would often choose not to adopt pro-environmental behaviours in fear of being associated with environmental activists. Such a mindset would in turn further alienate us from reality; whereby the impacts of climate change are in fact very relevant, affecting our health and our livelihoods. In some cases, the impacts of climate change affect some communities a lot more than others, whereby their very survival is also at stake.
Even if we are fortunate enough to not be directly impacted by climate change, we can’t choose to turn a blind eye – indirect impacts such as supply chain disruptions, damaged food production and an influx of climate refugees would also be a problem for us. No one can escape the consequences of climate change.
In the 2020 documentary film Extinction: The Facts, famed natural historian Sir David Attenborough gravely warned us from viewing the climate crisis as a problem faced only by “endangered animals, rainforests, and ice caps”. As Attenborough urged, we need to start framing it as a problem for us, whereby the climate crisis is “one that has consequences for us all”.
An example is the problem of deforestation. We don’t only strive to prevent deforestation for the sake of preserving natural habitats. By preventing deforestation, we are also reducing the occurrence of haze, which would otherwise affect our own heart and lungs, causing severe respiratory problems such as asthma.
Furthermore, rainforests also act as carbon sinks, and help alleviate Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, in turn preventing the temperature from further rising.
In actuality, the planet does not need saving. Mitigating the impacts of climate change isn’t for Earth’s sake. Rather, it is for our own survival. If we don’t save the planet, we are killing ourselves.
It is about time we change the message and reframe our sentiments – from “Saving the Planet” to “Saving Ourselves” – and emphasize the connection between climate actions and our survival as a species. We need to start re-evaluating our relationship with nature, and the Earth. Only then, could we recognize the personal and communal impacts that are also brought about by climate change.
~ edited excerpts from the article, “The Planet (Earth) Doesn’t Need Saving, We Do”, Responsible Business (17 May 2022)