Can We Stop Sabotaging Our Climate? Yes, With These Mindsets

Can the human species deal wisely with climate change, making things better instead of worse? Our brains evolved to react quickly to sudden threats like hungry predators. Could our hard wiring be preventing us from coping with what so many people view as less immediate dangers, such as rising temperatures, viruses, melting glaciers, and collapsing ocean currents?

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Most climate disasters are predictable surprises—disasters that people armed with evidence knew were coming but that decision-makers and other bystanders ignored or downplayed. When catastrophe strikes, officials express surprise despite advance warning.

Perhaps we may be incapable of dealing with climate change. More likely, though, that’s a false assumption that hides the vital fact that we can do far better than we are doing now. Forging a safer climate future than the one we’re heading toward is a realistic, attainable goal. Human agency’s vast potential gives us the power to make excellent progress against our myriad modern challenges.

While other species adapt and some go extinct, ours is adapting too slowly. Human psychology is stopping us, but psychology can also save us. We must realize that urgent, high-impact climate action is not merely an option but our species’ responsibility. We can do dramatically better than our current trajectory leads.

We possess extraordinary evolutionary assets. Even if we aren’t wired 100 percent properly for climate wisdom, we can capitalize profoundly by purposefully applying vital mindsets: collective agency, future-mindedness, and proactivity.

Motivation and behavior change revolve around human agency, and productive climate action is no exception. Much psychology research shows the positive implications of self-efficacy—a commonly measured form of individual agency—for a range of climate change mitigation and adaptation behaviors and intentions.

While individual actions undoubtedly help the planet, the greatest power lies in collective agency. The impact can be immense when people come together with a shared purpose. Imagine the collective impact if we engage as a cooperating species determined to address climate change.

We possess climate agency; the World Economic Forum tells us we already have the solutions to at least halve emissions by 2030. A full-fledged climate agency, though, is more than knowledge and more than feeling empowered. We capitalize fully on our powers only by wisely implementing best possible solutions and continually addressing political challenges and social injustices.

We think about the future, including climate futures, but make most decisions with limited time horizons. Future-mindedness, a feature of responsible decision-making, includes thinking ahead, identifying long-term goals, making predictions and plans, considering multiple future scenarios, and strategically incorporating long-term consequences into decision-making. It is crucial to consider how much and what kinds of responsibility to take for what the future brings.

Evidence-based future-minded concepts include temporal focus (relative attention devoted to past, present, and future) and future time perspective. These and related measures predict caring about the environment, an array of pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs), and intentions to engage in future PEBs. Broader positive implications of this future-focused mindset include responsible health and financial behaviors, other important life and work outcomes, and personal and organizational resilience.

Agency and future-mindedness underpin proactivity, a particular class of trajectory-changing behaviors that forge futures better than current paths foretell. People can constructively influence their futures and those of others, but they commonly don’t apply a proactive mindset to take change-creating action.

Proactivity is trivialized when we merely exclaim, “We/they should’ve been more proactive.” The deeper meaning is not about what could have been but wasn’t; it’s about looking forward and doing what’s best for the future.

We do not need universal hard wiring in a singular design best suited to long-term climate action. Deliberate choice and constructive dialogue make agentic, future-minded, and proactive mindsets readily accessible, as shown by influential individuals and collaborations throughout history. This formula for tackling climate change offers countless paths forward and new roles for anyone who wants to participate.

Reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere slows global heating and mitigates climate catastrophe. We will reach the drawdown point when greenhouse gas levels begin declining steadily. And guess what? Once we reach drawdown, a return to better climate times will happen surprisingly quickly.