106
T. S. Shwetha and A. Kaur
of the human impact on the environment called forth by the United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan in 2000, reflected the urgent need to focus on environmental
sustainability:
“At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning. Human activity is putting such
a strain on the natural functions of the Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems
to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted” [48].
It is time to acknowledge and pay attention to the factors that are influencing and
feeding such growing ignorance among the individuals, economies and the world at
large [50]. What is more surprising is that we, as an “intelligent” race, have failed
to recognise that we are walking the path to destruction and annihilation of our own
selves. Closing our eyes to the problem isn’t anything other than a faulty coping
mechanism that humans have conveniently developed.
So, what is it that is causing such a deep ignorance on our part? Rees [75] provides
a novel understanding of this problem. The author argues that as a result of our habitat
and resource-based competitiveness, humans have been evolutionary trained to value
instant over delayed gratification, thus making our tendency to discount the future—
a trait that has evolved through natural selection—simply meaning that such is the
nature of Homo sapiens.
Rees [75] goes on to further elaborate on these explanations through sociocultural reinforcement. Through the socially constructed means of economic expansion and trade, humans have come to believe that their ingenuity will find alternatives and substitutes to any problem (in other words, called the expansionist myth),
thus creating the illusion of unlimited resources which further encourages environmental depletion and unsustainable behaviour. Such evolutionary factors are of
course present at a subconscious or unconscious level [53]. Such a situation is further
complicated by the assumptions of free will that is held by humans [7], thus giving an
illusion of making active rational choices, when all this while we have been nothing
but slaves to our evolutionary and biological predispositions [20].
Apart from these, other influences have shaped how we humans look at our current
needs, which in turn affect how we view our resources and continue to engage in
unsustainable behaviour. The basic needs for existence, relatedness and growth seem
to be the centre of environmental exploitation. Individuals are convinced that “existence” means accumulating materialistic possessions and consumptive behaviours;
while “relatedness” has become mass events and activities, and all these are influence people to reduce their perceived social deprivation. On the other hand, “growth”
has come to mean strong preference for rapid innovation and change, becoming
desperately future focused such that the present has lost its value [1, 72].
Apart from the biological and evolutionary mechanisms, several other practical
issues surface when considering change to sustainable behaviours. The multinational
corporations benefit in a humongous manner through the use of various fossils and
through the degradation of the forests, minerals, industries that dump waste into the
rivers and pollute the air, use of pesticides and other chemicals. These companies are
able to resist the policies and laws at the centre, and seem to act like the laws don’t
apply to them, as they have influence on the government. Communities and societies
that are directly impacted by these actions of the corporate world come into action
T. S. Shwetha and A. Kaur
of the human impact on the environment called forth by the United Nations Secretary
General Kofi Annan in 2000, reflected the urgent need to focus on environmental
sustainability:
“At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning. Human activity is putting such
a strain on the natural functions of the Earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems
to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted” [48].
It is time to acknowledge and pay attention to the factors that are influencing and
feeding such growing ignorance among the individuals, economies and the world at
large [50]. What is more surprising is that we, as an “intelligent” race, have failed
to recognise that we are walking the path to destruction and annihilation of our own
selves. Closing our eyes to the problem isn’t anything other than a faulty coping
mechanism that humans have conveniently developed.
So, what is it that is causing such a deep ignorance on our part? Rees [75] provides
a novel understanding of this problem. The author argues that as a result of our habitat
and resource-based competitiveness, humans have been evolutionary trained to value
instant over delayed gratification, thus making our tendency to discount the future—
a trait that has evolved through natural selection—simply meaning that such is the
nature of Homo sapiens.
Rees [75] goes on to further elaborate on these explanations through sociocultural reinforcement. Through the socially constructed means of economic expansion and trade, humans have come to believe that their ingenuity will find alternatives and substitutes to any problem (in other words, called the expansionist myth),
thus creating the illusion of unlimited resources which further encourages environmental depletion and unsustainable behaviour. Such evolutionary factors are of
course present at a subconscious or unconscious level [53]. Such a situation is further
complicated by the assumptions of free will that is held by humans [7], thus giving an
illusion of making active rational choices, when all this while we have been nothing
but slaves to our evolutionary and biological predispositions [20].
Apart from these, other influences have shaped how we humans look at our current
needs, which in turn affect how we view our resources and continue to engage in
unsustainable behaviour. The basic needs for existence, relatedness and growth seem
to be the centre of environmental exploitation. Individuals are convinced that “existence” means accumulating materialistic possessions and consumptive behaviours;
while “relatedness” has become mass events and activities, and all these are influence people to reduce their perceived social deprivation. On the other hand, “growth”
has come to mean strong preference for rapid innovation and change, becoming
desperately future focused such that the present has lost its value [1, 72].
Apart from the biological and evolutionary mechanisms, several other practical
issues surface when considering change to sustainable behaviours. The multinational
corporations benefit in a humongous manner through the use of various fossils and
through the degradation of the forests, minerals, industries that dump waste into the
rivers and pollute the air, use of pesticides and other chemicals. These companies are
able to resist the policies and laws at the centre, and seem to act like the laws don’t
apply to them, as they have influence on the government. Communities and societies
that are directly impacted by these actions of the corporate world come into action