Barriers of Change

                                                                                                                                -by Ann Mukami

Addressing climate change is one of the most pressing tasks facing our planet and its inhabitants today. Climate Scientists and researchers have been at work, unearthing new information and solutions to cope and curb the menace.

One would think that now that there is so much information on climate change, more people are taking action to stop the problem. 

Unfortunately that’s not the case! Research has shown that despite the fact that more people now know about climate change and its significant threat to human well-being, this has not translated to equivalent behavioral changes to stop it. 

Why? 

This is due to existence of psychological barriers that inhibit individuals from making choices and decisions that would help in prevention, mitigation and adaptation of climate change.  These barriers stem from our beliefs, attitudes, ideologies and our social interactions.

 

Which are these barriers?  

a. Distance  
  
The issue of climate change seems a distance issue for most of us. This is in a number of ways. 

First, it feels distance in terms of geographical location, in that some of these impacts of climate change; extreme droughts, floods, fires, rising sea levels, melting of ice and glaciers, are happening to countries that we may have never heard about or even visited. 

Therefore it becomes difficult to act because there is the feeling that the problem is happening somewhere else. 

In addition, it feels distant in terms of responsibility, that many citizens may think that it’s the responsibility of their governments to solely take action and stop climate change so they end up not doing something about it.  Forgetting that everyone has a role to play and in our small ways, we can make a difference. 

It also feels distance in terms of time. This is because some of the major impacts of climate change are expected to take place in the future, may be coming century or even beyond. So one may think that he/she will not be there when these impacts are happening so there is no need to take action and also the feeling of uncertainty crops in, in that they are not even sure these impacts will take place( at least  for climate change skeptics)

b. Doom 

Often, the information on climate change has been presented in dramatic videos and emotionally draining messages that only show the devastating losses and negative impacts. 

These does not at all encourage people to take action, this is because it creates a feeling of fear and helplessness that the problem is so big and there is nothing we can do about it, so let’s wait for the dooms day!   

Therefore, there is need to shift from this kind of approach and focus more on existing practical solutions that can be done and how implementing them will enhance our lives and promote growth in the society.

c. Dissonance 

This refers to a situation involving conflicting attitudes, beliefs, ideas or behaviors. 

People tend to keep consistency in their beliefs and perceptions. So when for instance we are confronted with information that says contrary to our believes or behaviors, there is usually discomfort or some kind of mental stress. 

Hence to offset this, we tend to avoid the situation and give all the excuses we can think of, reason? We most often don’t want change and we always want to satisfy the inner urge of maintaining our original ideas or perceptions.  

For example, if one knows that continuous emissions of CO2 in the atmosphere cause greenhouse effect that consequently leads to global warming and it conflicts with what he or she does in real life, example drives or flies a lot, then dissonance sets in.

Therefore in order to create consistency, it will be easier to choose to avoid the topic of climate change and stay business as usual because it will make one feel better about oneself and how one lives. Dissonance therefore impedes people from making behavior changes to stop climate change.

d. Denial
  

Despite international scientific consensus and glaring evidence that climate change is happening around the world, some people still deny that it exists or that humans are causing it. 

Denial arises due to different world views or ideologies that individuals hold. 

Denial to acknowledge the facts on climate change eliminates the feeling of guilt; that we are contributing to climate change, which therefore leads to content and delay in taking action on climate change. 

e. Identity
  

Individuals tend to accommodate information that affirms their values and beliefs that define their identity. 

For instance, it is difficult for oil producing nations to suddenly stop oil extraction because it’s contributing to climate change. This is because, it’s   their identity and oil production majorly drives their economies and stopping production means, at least to them, detrimental economic implications, a risk they are not willing to take! 

Hence the need to maintain Identity inhibits climate change action. 

These barriers are interrelated but yet distinct. It’s important for climate change activists and other climate change communicators to be aware of these defenses when delivering their information so as to avoid triggering them. This will encourage positivity and more action to address climate change.

                                                                                                     

Of Climate Change.....

Climate Change; "Greatest Challenge of our Time*"_ (Copenhagen Accord, March,2010)

We still have to think of more solutions and new ways of dealing with this problem......

See, the climate change we are dealing with now, isn’t the same as was at the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or at the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Populations have grown, costs of living gone up, and more challenges emerged especially in a lot of developing countries. It is 2015 and we cannot just sit in round tables and talk of climate change in isolation.

 It is climate change and….. climate change and “I am hungry”, climate change and “I do not understand these strange new pests and insects on my farm”, climate change and “I have to do whatever it takes to take myself to the hospital, climate change and “can I afford to send my child to school” And steadily developing countries are rising to become huge contributors to a lot of environmental problems.

And one cannot solely put the blame on people because; a lot of the actions leading to environmental damage are done unconsciously. One needs to survive_ fetch firewood for cooking, cut down some trees to get some more land to grow food/put up shelters to live in etc.….

And this should tell our governments, policy makers and all engaged in environmental protection and the fight against climate change that we still need to go back to the drawing board. Develop projects that address people’s basic needs; improve livelihoods, bring alternative sources of energy to the communities, implement environmental laws, improve our judicial systems, reduce the gaps between rich and poor etc.And this is so especially in developing countries.

Simply put, in 2015, climate change is intertwined with so many other issues affecting the society_ Be it food security, judicial system, security, on and on…. 

What actions and structures are our governments setting in place to shelter people from the effects of climate change? Whether improving early warning systems, modernizing and equipping our meteorological department, reducing costs of living, easing access to healthcare ? 

Or are our governments too focused on empty politics, and corruption? , for heaven’s sake its 2015 anyone who is corrupt or incites tribal clashes, or signs deals that are wrong should go to some deserted island. Because clearly, they seem not understand or are too self-focused to see the challenges in our societies. 

And these same challenges, will eventually lead to the destruction of our environment, worsening the already being felt effects of climate change. 

-          Mary Appophia

My EXCHANGE PROJECT EXPERIENCES"

“The fantastic four” drinking coconut water in Mombasa!

 Lonely planet, trip advisor, media, friends, YouTube. Nothing ever prepares you well enough for an exchange project – except from the experience itself. From that unforgettable call informing one they’ve made it to be part of the exchange team, to the preparation phase, on and on to the final day. Every moment and every day is an experience, whether at one’s home country or away.
Mary Appophia
Exchange participant


The exchange project acquaints one to new experiences, lessons and skills that are essential to life, such as self-reliance, taking initiative, swimming in winter under 10 degree Celsius, open mind-ness, diversity appreciation, dancing to different music, cooking new types of food – like the famous Norwegian TACO! Norwegians love Taco, and in most homes, its Taco Fridays every Friday.

But I won’t lie that the couple months’ exchange project might be tough on you, but they’ll also give you all the life skills you need.  As fundamental as some are, all skills are simply not gained, and well for me the not-gained skill is the art of packing. Often we’ve been travelling for week, and one would assume with so much travel I’ve become really good at selecting essentials, and carrying just enough. But no, I don’t think I’ll ever learn. Good that I’m not the only one with this not-gained skill.

August 21st, the year is 2014, Ann and I got our first plane ride, and well for me, the first time at the airport. Destination? Oslo, Norway. The air trip was as exciting as we’d expected, but for one little disappointing factor, Ann’s ears did not “pop out” as she’d pictured (Sorry Ann, I know I promised not to tell anyone about that).

Sweet Summer ended, beautiful autumn came, and let’s say for Ann and I the “not so friendly winter” finally arrived. But it was exciting experiencing the different seasons, skating in the snow, visiting the famous ski jump. Norway was simply beautiful for us, with new experiences each day, beautiful nature, the trains and train-time conscious lessons…

My awe moment must’ve been seeing the northern lights. And I remember thinking, “that they are actually real”. I always thought it was something people said about some lights in the sky… It was wonderful actually seeing them in real life!

And the most important part was creating climate change awareness in schools, visiting Grønn Ungdoms local groups, learning new cultures, sharing experiences, as well as meeting new people. We had a lot of fun, and gained a huge amount of experience on talking in front of an audience on our tours!

In the course of visiting schools one aspect that stood out, was climate change is quite a distant subject to most students. And that is true for most people; it can sound like a huge subject that a mere individual has no control over. But something we have learnt is that a focus on how your audience can contribute in stopping, or reducing, the impacts of climate change, always brings the topic closer home. People want to feel that they can do something and contribute to the solution.

Boom! January 2015 came, and it was Guris and Fridas turn to travel the 7000km. Destination?  +254, Land of lions, Giraffes, Gazelles, Buffalos, Zebras and beautiful handcraft. (That was just some brief marketing on Kenya as a great tourist destination.)

In Kenya we have been doing some of the same things as in Norway: Visiting schools in Western/Coastal/Nairobi Kenya. We’ve realized that students in the different parts know quite a lot on climate change. And most solutions that students gave, focused quite a lot on adaptation and mitigation. Many parts of the country are already feeling the effects of climate change and it is important that people are aware of how to cope with this changes.

In addition, we have been visiting KYG local groups. We have learnt quite a lot on what they are doing as well identified challenges/ areas that could be improved more.  This will guide our last phase on areas to develop proposals on.

And of course I have to mention food, and It has been fun eating food from the different parts of the country. From Ugali+chicken in Western Kenya, Ugali+fish in Nyanza, Pilau, Madafu in the coast, and the most important: CHAPATI <3 p="">
In the last one month, focus shifts to strengthening the organization with a focus on improving KYG programme areas, developing proposals as well as compiling the final project products such as the video and the report.

Now there is less than two weeks left of this 8 month adventure. It has been fun, instructive and exciting, as well as challenging, tough and sometimes stressful. I have learnt so much; about ways of fighting climate change, cultures (and the clashes that might occur), organisational work and things I didn’t know about my self. This has been an experience that I will carry for the rest of my life, and I want to encourage you to apply for an exchange program if you ever get the chance!