Your Brain On Climate

Values Action Gap, with Gail Hochachka

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Episode notes

Well you SAY you care about climate change, but you don't, do you? There's you, driving a car (!!!)  or not putting that plastic bottle in the recycling (!!!!!).  There's you, saying you value the planet, but acting like you JUST DON'T CARE.

You and me and everyone else. The gulf between our values and actions is large you could drive an SUV through it.  This is the 'values action gap'. Closing it is the stated aim of just about all behavioural science and climate campaigns and all the rest of it. But it is evidently bloody hard. Because although most people say they care about the planet, the plastic and the carbon emissions and the dead stuff keeps on piling up.   So what is the values action gap all about, and how do we actually leap it? 

Joining Dave this week is Dr Gail Hochachka from the University of British Columbia in Canada.  She explains her brilliant research which picks apart the values action gap in all its complexity, and gives us abundant reasons to be cheerful: perhaps the gap isn't as large as all that.  Gail's paper on the gap (referenced throughout) is here.

Owl noises:

--  12:28: This owl is a plug for Gail's paper, linked above.
--  13:16: We've talked about hyperobjects on YBOC before, can't remember where. Read this.
-- 49:52: Gail has a fantastic new initiative, SALT.

Your Brain on Climate is a podcast about human psychology vs the climate crisis: what we think, why we think it, and how it all adds up to a planet-sized emergency.  Contact the show:  @brainclimate on Twitter, or [email protected].

Support the show on Patreon: www.patreon.com/yourbrainonclimate.

The show is hosted and produced by me, Dave Powell, who you can find @powellds on Twitter.  Original music by me too.

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