Why humans are so bad at thinking about climate change

Summary

This script addresses the ineffectiveness of fear-based climate change messaging and proposes a shift towards more engaging strategies. It highlights the success of the UCLA Engage project, which used real-time energy usage data and social competition to motivate conservation. The script also discusses the role of behavioral science in driving change, with examples like Opower's social comparison reports and Virgin Atlantic's fuel-saving initiatives. It emphasizes the need for broader-scale changes and positive messaging to inspire action on climate change.

Takeaways

• 🌍 The urgency of climate change is highlighted, with warnings of irreversible damage and current impacts such as rising sea levels and pollution.
• 🐾 The speaker, a conservation scientist, emphasizes the need to shift the narrative on climate change from fear and guilt to more engaging and actionable messaging.
• 🌬️ The 'ozone hole' serves as a historical example of a successfully addressed environmental crisis, demonstrating that clear messaging and understanding can lead to collective action.
• 🏠 Invisible pollutants like CO2 are harder to tackle because they are not directly observable in our daily lives, unlike the tangible harm of CFCs to the ozone layer.
• 🔋 The UCLA Engage project illustrates how making energy use visible through real-time tracking and reporting can lead to significant energy conservation.
• 💡 Personalized and repeated messaging about the environmental impact of energy use, especially when linked to health issues, can motivate behavioral change more effectively than financial incentives.
• 🏅 Social competition, as demonstrated in dormitory energy use studies, can be a powerful motivator for reducing energy consumption, leveraging our innate desire to compare favorably with others.
• 🌐 Companies like Opower are leveraging social comparison in energy reporting, showing that subtle social pressures can drive significant energy savings.
• ✈️ Behavioral 'nudges', such as feedback on fuel use, have proven effective in large organizations, as seen with Virgin Atlantic Airways' pilots saving substantial fuel and reducing emissions.
• 🌱 The script concludes that while behavioral changes are a start, broader-scale systemic changes in business models and societal attitudes are necessary to address climate change effectively.

Q & A

What is the main issue with the current messaging around climate change according to the speaker?

The speaker believes that the current doom-and-gloom messaging around climate change isn't effective because it tends to make people feel fearful and guilty, which leads to disengagement and passivity rather than action.

Why does the speaker think climate change is referred to as the 'policy problem from hell'?

The speaker refers to climate change as the 'policy problem from hell' because it is a complex issue that doesn't align well with human psychology or the way institutions make decisions, making it difficult to address effectively.

What historical example does the speaker use to illustrate a successful response to an environmental issue?

The speaker uses the example of the hole in the ozone layer from the 1970s and '80s to illustrate how a clear, understandable problem and a concrete image (the 'ozone hole') led to successful action and an eventual solution.

How did the identification of CFCs as the cause of ozone layer depletion lead to behavioral changes?

When it was discovered that CFCs were destroying the ozone layer, people became aware of the direct link between their use of products like hairspray and the environmental problem, leading to a significant drop in sales of such products.

What was the initial goal of UCLA’s Engage project?

The initial goal of UCLA’s Engage project was to figure out how to frame information about electricity usage to motivate people to save energy and conserve electricity, making the relatively invisible process of energy use more visible.

What did the students learn about their energy consumption through the UCLA Engage project?

Through the project, students learned about the real-time usage of appliances and were able to compare the energy consumption of different appliances, such as the 'monster' energy consumption of their fridge, leading to an upgrade to an energy-efficient model.

How did personalized emails about energy usage impact behavior in the Engage project?

Personalized emails about energy usage that focused on saving money were found to be ineffective in changing behavior, as electricity is relatively cheap and the messages did not motivate households to conserve energy.

What messaging strategy was found to be effective in reducing energy usage in the Engage project?

Emails that linked the amount of pollutants produced to rates of childhood asthma and cancer were found to be effective, leading to an 8% drop in energy use and 19% in households with kids.

How did social competition influence energy consumption in the separate study mentioned?

In the study, social competition was introduced by publicly showcasing students' energy usage with red dots for wasters and green stars for efficient users. This approach led to a 20% reduction in energy use.

What role does Opower play in promoting energy conservation?

Opower works with utility companies to provide personalized energy reports to customers, allowing them to see their energy use and compare it with their neighbors', using subtle social pressure to encourage energy conservation.

What broader change does the speaker suggest is necessary to address climate change?

The speaker suggests that broader-scale change is necessary, including people changing companies, business models, and the products and services they provide, to effectively address climate change.

Outlines

00:00

🌍 Climate Change Communication and Behavioral Change

The speaker, a conservation scientist, acknowledges the severity of climate change but criticizes the ineffectiveness of doom-and-gloom messaging. They argue that fear and guilt, common in climate change discussions, lead to disengagement rather than action. The speaker contrasts this with the successful response to the ozone layer depletion, where a clear image and tangible action (reducing CFCs) led to significant progress. The speaker suggests that making the invisible sources of CO2 visible could be a key to changing behavior. They introduce the UCLA Engage project, which aimed to make energy usage visible and understandable to encourage conservation. The project provided real-time energy usage data to students, leading to increased awareness and changes in behavior, such as using energy-efficient appliances and adjusting usage patterns.

05:04

🏆 The Power of Social Competition in Energy Conservation

The Engage project explored different messaging strategies to motivate behavioral change in energy consumption. Personalized emails about saving money were ineffective due to the low cost of electricity. However, messages linking energy use to environmental and health impacts, particularly childhood asthma and cancer, led to an 8% drop in energy use, with a 19% reduction in households with children. A separate study introduced social competition by publicly displaying energy usage, which resulted in a 20% reduction in energy use. The competitive element was found to be a strong motivator, as people are social creatures who respond to how they compare with others. Opower, a company working with utility companies, uses social comparison in their energy reports, which has been effective in encouraging energy conservation. The narrative concludes by emphasizing the need for broader-scale change, including changes in business models and embracing human competitive spirit to move from apathy to action in addressing climate change.

Keywords

💡Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. In the video, it is presented as an urgent and overwhelming problem that requires a change in communication strategy to engage people effectively. The script mentions 'irreversible' climate change and its impacts like rising sea levels and melting glaciers, emphasizing the need for action.

💡Doom-and-Gloom Messaging

This term describes the use of negative, fear-inducing messages to raise awareness about a problem, in this case, climate change. The video argues that such messaging is not effective because it leads to people tuning out or feeling overwhelmed, rather than engaging with the issue. The script suggests that a more positive and engaging approach is needed to motivate action.

💡Psychology of Engagement

The psychology of engagement pertains to how people's emotional responses and cognitive processes influence their willingness to participate in a cause or address an issue. The video explains that fear and guilt, which are often induced by doom-and-gloom messaging, are counterproductive for engagement. Instead, the video suggests leveraging positive emotions and social comparisons to motivate behavior change.

💡Ozone Layer

The ozone layer is a region of Earth's stratosphere that contains a high concentration of ozone molecules, which absorb most of the Sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation. The video uses the successful response to the depletion of the ozone layer as a historical example of how a clear, comprehensible threat can lead to effective action, contrasting it with the more complex issue of climate change.

💡Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Chlorofluorocarbons are a class of compounds that were once widely used as refrigerants, propellants, and solvents. The video mentions CFCs as the cause of ozone layer depletion, illustrating how a tangible source of a problem can lead to clear action when people understand the connection between their actions and the environmental impact.

💡Energy Conservation

Energy conservation involves reducing the consumption of energy through increased efficiency and changes in behavior. The video discusses the UCLA Engage project, which aimed to make energy use more visible to people by providing real-time feedback on electricity usage, thereby encouraging conservation.

💡Behavioral Experiments

Behavioral experiments are scientific studies that test how different interventions or messages influence people's behavior. The video describes the Engage project as one of the nation's largest behavioral experiments in energy conservation, highlighting the use of real-time energy usage data and feedback to change residents' energy-saving behaviors.

💡Social Competition

Social competition refers to the influence of peer comparison on individual behavior, often used to motivate performance or change. The video explains how public recognition of energy usage, through the use of red dots for wasters and gold stars for top performers, leverages social competition to reduce energy consumption.

💡Behavioral Nudges

Behavioral nudges are subtle interventions that guide people towards making certain decisions or taking specific actions. The video discusses how 'nudges' like feedback on fuel use led to significant fuel savings in Virgin Atlantic Airways, illustrating the power of small changes in behavior to address complex issues like climate change.

💡Broader-Scale Change

Broader-scale change implies the need for systemic and widespread modifications in societal structures, business practices, and individual behaviors. The video concludes by emphasizing that addressing climate change requires more than individual actions; it necessitates changes in companies, business models, and the services and products provided.

💡Apathy

Apathy is a state of indifference or lack of interest, which the video associates with the public's response to traditional climate change messaging. The video suggests that by reframing the conversation around climate change and leveraging human psychology, it is possible to move people from a state of apathy to active engagement.

Highlights

Climate change is reaching a point of potential irreversibility.

Rising sea levels are already impacting the nation's coasts.

Pollution levels in China's capital are at an annual peak.

Five percent of species are at risk of extinction due to climate change.

Glaciers are melting and sea levels are rising as a result of climate change.

The need to change the narrative around climate change to engage people.

Doom-and-gloom messaging is ineffective and leads to disengagement.

Fear and guilt are counterproductive to engaging with climate change issues.

The 'ozone hole' was a simpler problem to understand and act upon.

The 'ozone hole' was successfully addressed by reducing CFCs in products.

Climate change is more complex due to its invisible and widespread sources.

UCLA's Engage project aimed to make energy use visible to encourage conservation.

Real-time tracking of appliance usage led to increased energy conservation.

Personalized messages about energy usage had varying effects on conservation.

Linking energy usage to health impacts led to a significant drop in energy use.

Social competition激励了节能行为，减少了能源使用。

Opower利用社会竞争理念，通过个性化能源报告促进节能。

Virgin Atlantic Airways通过反馈燃油使用情况给飞行员，集体节省了大量燃油。

行为科学的'微调'策略正在帮助社会应对复杂的气候变化问题。

需要更广泛的变革，包括改变公司、商业模式以及产品和服务。

应对气候变化需要拥抱人性，而不仅仅是关于极地熊或高油耗汽车的负罪感。

全球变暖是我们时代最大的问题，需要探索创新的方法来解决。

Transcripts

"We are hurtling toward the day when climate change could be irreversible."

"Rising sea levels already altering this nation’s coast."

"China’s capital is choking in its worst pollution of the year."

"5% of species will become extinct."

"Sea levels rising, glaciers melting."

Okay.

Enough.

I get it.

It’s not like I don’t care about polar bears and melting ice caps.

I’m a conservation scientist, so of course I care.

I’ve dedicated my entire career to this.

But over the years, one thing has become clear to me: We need to change the way we talk about

climate change.

This doom-and-gloom messaging just isn’t working; we seem to want to tune it out.

And this fear, this guilt, we know from psychology is not conducive to engagement.

It's rather the opposite.

It makes people passive, because when I feel fearful or guilt-full, I will withdraw from

the issue and try to think about something else that makes me feel better.

And with a problem this overwhelming, it’s pretty easy to just turn away and kick the

can down the road.

Somebody else can deal with it.

So it’s no wonder that scientists and policymakers have been struggling with this issue too.

So I like to say that climate change is the policy problem from hell.

You almost couldn't design a worse problem as a fit with our underlying psychology or

the way our institutions make decisions.

Many Americans continue to think of climate change as a distant problem: distant in time,

that the impacts won't be felt for a generation or more; and distant in space, that this is

about polar bears or maybe some developing countries.

Again, it’s not like we don’t care about these things — it’s just such a complicated

problem.

But the thing is, we’ve faced enormous, scary climate issues before.

Remember the hole in the ozone layer?

As insurmountable as that seemed in the 1970s and ’80s, we were able to wrap our heads

around that and take action.

People got this very simple, easy to understand, concrete image of this protective layer around

the Earth, kind of like a roof, protecting us, in this case, from ultraviolet light,

which by the way has the direct health consequence of potentially giving you skin cancer.

Okay, so now you've got my attention.

And so then they came up with this fabulous term, the “ozone hole.”

Terrible problem, great term.

People also got a concrete image of how we even ended up with this problem.

For decades, chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, were the main ingredient in a lot of products,

like aerosol spray cans.

Then scientists discovered that CFCs were actually destroying the atmospheric ozone.

People could look at their own hairspray and say, “Do I want to destroy the planet because

of my hairspray?

I mean, god no.”

And so what's interesting is that sales of hairspray and those kinds of products and

underarm aerosols started dropping quite dramatically.

People listened to scientists and took action.

Now scientists predict that the hole in the ozone layer will be healed around 2050.

That’s actually pretty amazing.

And while stopping the use of one product is actually pretty easy, climate change caused

by greenhouse gases … that’s much trickier.

Because the sources are more complicated, and for the most part, they’re totally invisible.

Right now, there is CO2 pouring out of tailpipes, there is CO2 pouring out of buildings,

there is CO2 pouring out of smokestacks, but you can't see it.

The fundamental cause of this problem is largely invisible to most of us.

I mean, if CO2 was black, we would have dealt with this issue a long time ago.

So CO2 touches every part of our lives — our cars, the places we work, the food we eat.

For now, let’s just focus on one thing: our energy use.

How do we make that visible?

That was the initial goal of UCLA’s Engage project, one of the nation’s largest behavioral

experiments in energy conservation.

What we're trying to do is to figure out how to frame information about electricity usage

so that people save energy and conserve electricity.

The idea is that electricity is relatively invisible to people.

The research team outfitted part of a student housing complex with meters that tracked real-time

usage of appliances and then sent them weekly reports.

So you can see how much energy the stove used versus the dishwasher or the fridge.

We realized, because of this project, the fridge was like the monster.

So lucky for them, their landlord upgraded their fridge to an energy-efficient one.

They also learned other energy-saving tips, like unplugging their dishwasher when not

in use and air-drying their clothes during the summer months.

And researchers, in turn, discovered where people were willing to cut back.

The Engage project wanted to know what types of messaging could motivate people to change

their behavior.

We wanted to see over time over a year and with repeated messages, how do people, behave?

How does that impact the consumer behavior?

And what we found is that it's very different.

Some households were sent personalized emails with their energy bill about how they could

save money; others learned how their energy usage impacted the environment and children’s

health.

Those who received messages about saving money did nothing.

It was totally ineffective because electricity is relatively cheap.

But emails sent that linked the amount of pollutants produced to rates of childhood

asthma and cancer — well, those led to an 8% drop in energy use, and 19% in households

with kids.

Now, in a separate study, researchers brought social competition into the mix.

First, they hung posters around a dorm building to publicly showcase how students were really

doing: red dots for energy wasters, green for those doing a good job, and a shiny gold

star for those going above and beyond.

This social pressure approach led to a 20% reduction in energy use.

This strategy was also used at Paulina’s complex, and it definitely brought out her

competitive streak.

For me, the competition was what motivated me, because seeing your apartment number and

telling you that you are doing at the average, but you are not the best, was like, Why?

I’m doing everything you are telling me to do.

I always wanted the gold star, because it was like, “Oh, my god, I want to be like

the less consumption of energy in the whole building.”

And psychology studies have proved this.

We are social creatures, and as individualistic as we can be, turns out we do care about how

we compare to others.

And yes, we do like to be the best.

Some people don’t want to say, Oh, I'm like the average.

No, my usage is different and I want to be able to act on it.

And people can act on it because with these meters, they can now see their exact impact.

A company called Opower is playing with this idea of social competition.

They work with over 100 utility companies to provide personalized energy reports to

millions of customers around the world.

Now consumers can not only see their energy use but how it compares to their neighbors’.

Like the UCLA study found, this subtle social pressure encourages consumers to save energy.

It’s been so effective that in 2016, Opower was able to generate the equivalent of two

terawatt-hours of electricity savings.

That’s enough to power every home in Miami for more than a year.

And they’re not alone.

Even large companies are tapping into behavioral science to move the dial.

Virgin Atlantic Airways gave a select group of pilots feedback on their fuel use.

Over the course of a year, they collectively saved over 6,800 tons of fuel by making some

simple changes: Adjusting their altitudes, routes, and speed

reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by over 21,000 tons.

These behavioral “nudges” do seem to be advancing how we as a society deal with some

pretty complicated climate change issues, but it turns out we’re just getting started.

There is no “quick fix.”

We need people changing their companies, changing their business models, changing the products

and services they provide.

This is about broader-scale change.

And part of this change includes embracing what makes us human.

That it can’t just be a guilt trip about dying polar bears or driving around in gas

guzzlers.

We need to talk about our wins, as well — like how we’re making progress, really being

aware of our energy use, and taking advantage of that competitive spirit we all have in

order to really move us from a state of apathy to action.

Global warming is by far the biggest issue of our time.

Climate Lab is a new series from Vox and the University of California, and we’ll be exploring

some surprising ways we can tackle this problem.

If you want to learn more, head to climate.universityofcalifornia.edu.