Lunch Hour Lecture: The Psychology of Climate Inaction

The human race faces the greatest peril in its 3-million year history, with the twin disasters of global heating and biosphere collapse rushing towards us at high speed. If an asteroid were predicted to impact the Earth 50 years hence then our entire focus would be on deflecting it. We are, however, strangely inactive about the ecological crisis, even though it severely shortens the life expectancy of our own children. Why is this? This talk explores the psychology of climate inaction, taking both an individual and a societal perspective and exploring whether we can overcome it before it’s too late.