Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-01T18:14:03.742Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

30 - Climate Change

A Challenge to Human Rights, Justice, Equality, and Human Well-Being

from Part III - Contemporary Issues in Psychology and Human Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2020

Neal S. Rubin
Affiliation:
Adler University
Roseanne L. Flores
Affiliation:
Hunter College, City University of New York
Get access

Summary

Climate change poses a profound challenge to human well-being and the very foundation of social justice and human rights. This chapter applies a psychological lens to understand the impacts of and responses to climate change at individual and societal levels. We describe the dire mental health implications of climate change impacts, which cause trauma and uproot lives, destabilize socioeconomic and governance institutions, exacerbate inequality by disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities, and spur conflict through resource scarcity and uncertainty. We examine group identity and belonging dynamics driving societal conflict, including competition over resources; scapegoating, hate crimes, and exclusionary politics; ethnic and political strife surrounding immigration; and political polarization and the rise of far-right parties – and consider their human rights implications. We then explore the psychology of climate inaction. Our moral judgment system is unable to grapple with a psychologically distant threat whose cause is endemic to the foundation of society. Motivated reasoning processes, including identity-protective cognition and system justification, contribute to moral disengagement and resistance to direly needed systemic changes. We offer psychologically informed approaches for overcoming inaction through communication, solution design, and empowerment. Finally, we overview international climate efforts, with a focus on the UN 2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, C. A. (2001). Heat and violence. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 33–38.Google Scholar
Anderson, C. A., & Delsi, M. (2011). Implications of global climate change for violence in developed and developing countries. In Forgas, J., Kruglanski, A. & Williams, K. (Eds.), The psychology of social conflict and aggression (pp. 249–265). New York, NY: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Ashmore, R. D., Jussim, L. J., & Wilder, D. (2001). Social identity, intergroup conflict, and conflict reduction (vol. III). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bandura, A. (2007). Impending ecological sustainability through selective moral disengagement. Internal Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development, 2, 8–35.Google Scholar
Bazerman, M. H., & Tenbrunsel, A. E. (2011). Blind spots: Why we fail to do what’s right and what to do about it. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Bernauer, T., Böhmelt, T., & Koubi, V. (2012). Environmental changes and violent conflict. Environmental Research Letters, 7, 15601.Google Scholar
Berry, H. L., Waite, T. D., Dear, K. B. G., Capon, A. G., & Murray, V. (2018). The case for systems thinking about climate change and mental health. Nature Climate Change, 8, 282–290.Google Scholar
Bettini, G. (2013). Climate barbarians at the gate? A critique of apocalyptic narratives on “climate refugees.” Geoforum, 45, 63–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, R., Arnell, N. W., Adger, W. N., Thomas, D., & Geddes, A. (2013). Migration, immobility and displacement outcomes following extreme events. Environmental Science & Policy, 275, 532–543.Google Scholar
Bolsen, T., Druckman, J. N., & Cook, F. L. (2014). The influence of partisan motivated reasoning on public opinion. Political Behavior, 36, 235–262.Google Scholar
Branscombe, N. R., & Wann, D. L. (1992). Role of identification with a group, arousal, categorization processes, and self-esteem in sports spectator aggression. Human Relations, 45, 1013–1033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, M. B. (1979). In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive-motivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 307–324.Google Scholar
Brewer, M. B. (2001). Ingroup identification and intergroup conflict. Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict, and Conflict Reduction, 3, 17–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
British Broadcasting Company (BBC). (2015). Migrant crisis: UK’s Syria refugee plan “not enough,” says Labour. www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-34183150Google Scholar
Cabot, C. (2017). Causal linkages between environmental change and conflict. In Climate change, security risks and conflict reduction in Africa (pp. 45–62). Berlin: Springer.Google Scholar
Carleton, T. A. (2017). Crop-damaging temperatures increase suicide rates in India. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114, 8746–8751.Google Scholar
Chapman, D. A., & Lickel, B. (2016). Climate change and disasters: How framing affects justifications for giving or withholding aid to disaster victims. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 7, 13–20.Google Scholar
Chapman, D. A., Trott, C. D., Silka, L., Lickel, B., & Clayton, S. (2018). Psychological perspectives on community resilience and climate change: Insights, examples, and directions for future research. In Clayton, S. & Manning, C. (Eds.), Psychology and climate change: Human perceptions, impacts, and response (pp. 267–288), London: Elsevier Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cichocka, A., & Jost, J. T. (2014). Stripped of illusions? Exploring system justification processes in capitalist and post-communist societies. International Journal of Psychology, 49, 6–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, D., Williams, S., Jahiruddin, M., Parks, K., & Salehin, M. (2015). Projections of on-farm salinity in coastal Bangladesh. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 17, 1127–1136.Google ScholarPubMed
Clayton, S., Manning, C. M., Krygsman, K., & Speiser, M. (2017). Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, implications, and guidance. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association and ecoAmerica.Google Scholar
Collins, A. E. (2013). Applications of the disaster risk reduction approach to migration influenced by environmental change. Environmental Science & Policy, 275, S112–S125.Google Scholar
Dasgupta, N. (2004). Implicit ingroup favoritism, outgroup favoritism, and their behavioral manifestations. Social Justice Research, 17, 143–169.Google Scholar
Ditto, P. H., & Lopez, D. F. (1992). Motivated skepticism: Use of differential decision criteria for preferred and nonpreferred conclusions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 568–584.Google Scholar
Dunlap, R. E., McCright, A. M., & Yarosh, J. H. (2016). The political divide on climate change: Partisan polarization widens in the US. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 58, 4–23.Google Scholar
Durrheim, K., Dixon, J., Tredoux, C., Eaton, L., Quayle, M., & Clack, B. (2011). Predicting support for racial transformation policies: Intergroup threat, racial prejudice, sense of group entitlement and strength of identification. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41, 23–41.Google Scholar
Esses, V. M., Hamilton, L. K., & Gaucher, D. (2017). The global refugee crisis: Empirical evidence and policy implications for improving public attitudes and facilitating refugee resettlement. Social Issues and Policy Review, 11, 78–123.Google Scholar
Esses, V. M., Jackson, L. M., & Armstrong, T. L. (1998). Intergroup competition and attitudes toward immigrants and immigration: An instrumental model of group conflict. Journal of Social Issues, 54, 699–724.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feygina, I., Jost, J. T., & Goldsmith, R. (2010). System justification, the denial of global warming, and the possibility of “system-sanctioned change.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 326–338.Google Scholar
Fritsche, I., Cohrs, J. C., Kessler, T., & Bauer, J. (2012). Global warming is breeding social conflict: The subtle impact of climate change threat on authoritarian tendencies. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 32, 1–10.Google Scholar
Fritze, J., Blashki, G. A., Burke, S., & Wiseman, J. (2008). Hope, despair and transformation: Climate change and the promotion of mental health and well-being. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 2(13), 1–10.Google Scholar
Gambino, L., Kingsley, P., & Nardelli, A. (2015). Syrian refugees in America: Separating fact from fiction in the debate. Guardian.www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/19/syrian-refugees-in-america-fact-from-fiction-congressGoogle Scholar
Gardiner, S. M. (2006). A perfect moral storm: Climate change, intergenerational ethics and the problem of moral corruption. Environmental Values, 15, 397–413.Google Scholar
Gatiso, T. T., Vollan, B., & Nuppenau, E.-A. (2015). Resource scarcity and democratic elections in commons dilemmas: An experimental test on forest use in Ethiopia. Ecological Economics, 114, 199–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gleditsch, N. P. (2012). Whither the weather? Climate change and conflict. Journal of Peace Research, 49, 3–9.Google Scholar
Gleick, P. H. (2014). Water, drought, climate change, and conflict in Syria. Weather, Climate, and Society, 6, 331–340.Google Scholar
Gorodzeisky, A., & Semyonov, M. (2015). Not only competitive threat but also racial prejudice: Sources of anti-immigrant attitudes in European societies. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 28, 331–354.Google Scholar
Green, E. G. (2009). Who can enter? A multilevel analysis on public support for immigration criteria across 20 European countries. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 12, 41–60.Google Scholar
Griswold, E. (2016). Why is it so difficult for Syrian refugees to get into the U.S.? New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/magazine/why-is-it-so-difficult-for-syrian-refugees-to-get-into-the-us.htmlGoogle Scholar
Hart, P. S. & Nisbet, E. C. (2011). Boomerang effects in science communication: How motivated reasoning and identity cues amplify opinion polarization about climate mitigation policies. Communication Research, 39, 701–723.Google Scholar
Harville, E., Taylor, C., Tesfai, H., Xiong, X., & Buekens, P. (2011). Experience of Hurricane Katrina and reported intimate partner violence. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26, 833–845.Google Scholar
Hegre, H., Buhaug, H., Calvin, K. V., Nordkvelle, J., Waldhoff, S. T., & Gilmore, E. (2016). Forecasting civil conflict along the shared socioeconomic pathways. Environmental Research Letters, 11, 54002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hersher, R. (2016). Protests disrupt pipelines across the northern U.S. National Public Radio. www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/10/12/497673866/protests-disrupt-pipelines-across-the-westGoogle Scholar
Hsiang, S. M., Burke, M., & Miguel, E. (2013). Quantifying the influence of climate on human conflict. Science, 341, 1235367–1235367.Google Scholar
IPCC Climate Change. (2014). Synthesis report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, Geneva, Switzerland, 151.Google Scholar
Jamieson, D. (2010). Climate change, responsibility, and justice. Science, Engineering, and Ethics, 16, 431–445.Google Scholar
Johnstone, S., & Mazo, J. (2011). Global warming and the Arab Spring. Survival: Global Politics and Strategy, 53, 11–17.Google Scholar
Kahan, D. M., Jamieson, K. H., Landrum, A. & Winneg, K. (2017). Culturally antagonistic memes and the Zika virus: An experimental test. Journal of Risk Research, 20, 1–40.Google Scholar
Kahan, D. M., Jenkins-Smith, H., & Braman, D. (2010). Cultural cognition of scientific consensus. Journal of Risk Research, 14, 147–174.Google Scholar
Kahan, D. M., Peters, E., Wittlin, M., Slovic, P., Ouellette, L. L., Braman, D., & Mandel, G. (2012). The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks. Nature Climate Change, 10, 732–735.Google Scholar
Kassam, A. (2016). Kinder Morgan pipeline: Canadians intensify huge opposition to expansion. Guardian.www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/03/canada-kinder-morgan-pipeline-expansion-protestGoogle Scholar
Kelley, C. P., Mohtadi, S., Cane, M. A., Seager, R., & Kushnir, Y. (2015). Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112, 3241–3246.Google Scholar
Kessler, R., Galea, S., Gruber, M., Sampson, N., Ursano, R., & Wessely, S. (2008). Trends in mental illness and suicidality after Hurricane Katrina. Molecular Psychiatry, 13, 374–384.Google Scholar
Kotir, J. H. (2011). Climate change and variability in sub-Saharan Africa: A review of current and future trends and impacts on agriculture and food security. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 13, 587–605.Google Scholar
Krosch, A. R., & Amodio, D. M. (2014). Economic scarcity alters the perception of race. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 9079–9084.Google Scholar
Kunda, Z. (1990). The case for motivated reasoning. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 480–498.Google Scholar
Laczko, F., & Aghazarm, C. (2009). Migration, environment and climate change: Assessing the evidence. Geneva: International Organization for Migration.Google Scholar
Langfit, F. (2016, October 10). New data reveal increase in hate crimes after U.K. Brexit vote. National Public Radio. www.npr.org/2016/10/10/497423606/new-data-reveal-increase-in-hate-crimes-after-u-k-brexit-voteGoogle Scholar
Leidner, B., Castano, E., Zaiser, E., & Giner-Sorolla, R. (2010). Ingroup glorification, moral disengagement, and justice in the context of collective violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 1115–1129.Google Scholar
Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C., Rosenthal, S., Cutler, M., & Kotcher, J. (2018, March). Climate change in the American mind. Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.Google Scholar
Levenson, E., & Hassan, C. (2017). Proposed laws would crack down on protesters who block roadways. CNN. www.cnn.com/2017/01/25/us/nd-protest-driver-bill-trnd/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Lewis, K. H., & Lenton, T. M. (2015). Knowledge problems in climate change and security research. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 6, 383–399.Google Scholar
Lilleor, H. B., & Van den Droeck, K. (2011). Economic drivers of migration and climate change in LDCs. Global Environmental Change, 215, S70–S81.Google Scholar
Louis, W. R., Duck, J. M., Terry, D. J., Schuller, R. A., & Lalonde, R. N. (2007). Why do citizens want to keep refugees out? Threats, fairness and hostile norms in the treatment of asylum seekers. European Journal of Social Psychology, 37, 53–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, S. R., Manove, E. E., & Rhodes, J. E. (2013). Posttraumatic stress and posttraumatic growth among low-income mothers who survived Hurricane Katrina. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 81, 877–889.Google Scholar
Lucas, C. H., & Davis, A. (2018). Not “getting on the bandwagon”: When climate change is a matter of unconcern. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2(1), 129–149.Google Scholar
Markowitz, E. M. (2012). Is climate change an ethical issue? Exploring young adults’ beliefs about climate and morality. Climatic Change, 114, 479–495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Markowitz, E. M., & Shariff, A. F. (2012). Climate change and moral judgment. Nature Climate Change, 2, 243–247.Google Scholar
McCright, A. M., Dunlap, R. E., & Marquart-Pyatt, S. T. (2016). Political ideology and views about climate change in the European Union. Environmental Politics, 25, 338–358.Google Scholar
McCright, A. M., Dunlap, R. E., & Xiao, C. (2013). Perceived scientific agreement and support for government action on climate change in the USA. Climatic Change, 119, 511–518.Google Scholar
Nachbaur, J., Feygina, I., Lipkowitz, E., & Karwat, D. (2017). Perspectives on Governance for Climate Change Resilience: Status Quo and Reforms. Arizona State University Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes.Google Scholar
Napier, J. L., Mandisodza, A. N., Andersen, S. M., & Jost, J. T. (2006). System justification in responding to the poor and displaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 6, 57–73.Google Scholar
National Security Council. (2012). Climate and social stress: Implications for security analysis. www.nap.edu/catalog/14682/climate-and-social-stress-implications-for-security-analysisGoogle Scholar
Obradovich, N. (2016). Climate change may speed democratic turnover. Climatic Change, 140, 135–147.Google Scholar
Oreskes, N. (2011). Merchants of doubt: How a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to global warming. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press.Google Scholar
Peeters, W., Smet, A. D., Diependaele, L., Sterckx, S., McNeal, R. H., & De Smet, A. (2015). Climate change and individual responsibility: Agency, moral disengagement and the motivational gap. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Pereira, C., Vala, J., & Costa‐Lopes, R. (2010). From prejudice to discrimination: The legitimizing role of perceived threat in discrimination against immigrants. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 1231–1250.Google Scholar
Pope Francis. (2015). Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home [Encyclical].Google Scholar
Prediger, S., Vollan, B., & Hermann, B. (2014). Resource scarcity and antisocial behavior. Journal of Public Economics, 119, 1–9.Google Scholar
Raleigh, C. (2011). The search for safety: The effects of conflict, poverty and ecological influences on migration in the developing world. Global Environmental Change, 215, S82–S93.Google Scholar
Ransan-Cooper, H., Farbotko, C., McNamara, K. E., Thornton, F., & Chevalier, E. (2015). Being(s) framed: The means and ends of framing environmental migrants. Global Environmental Changes, 35, 106–115.Google Scholar
Reacher, M., McKenzie, K., Lane, C., Nichols, T., Kedge, I., Iversen, A, Hepple, P., Walter, T., Laxton, C., Simpson, J., & Lewes Flood Action Recovery Team. (2004). Health impacts of flooding in Lewes: A comparison of reported gastrointestinal and other illness and mental health in flooded and non-flooded households. Communicable Disease and Public Health, 7, 39–46.Google Scholar
Riek, B. M., Mania, E. W., & Gaertner, S. L. (2006). Intergroup threat and outgroup attitudes: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 336–353.Google Scholar
Reuveny, R. (2007). Climate change-induced migration and violent conflict. Political Geography, 26, 656–673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robotham, D. (2011). Sleep as a public health concern: Insomnia and mental health. Journal of Public Mental Health, 10, 234–237.Google Scholar
Rothschild, Z. K., Landau, M. J., Sullivan, D. L., & Keefer, L. A. (2012). A dual-motive model of scapegoating. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 1148–1163.Google Scholar
Schlenker, W., & Lobell, D. B. (2010). Robust negative impacts of climate change on African agriculture. Environmental Research Letters, 5, e014010.Google Scholar
Shah, A. K., Mullainathan, S., & Shafir, E. (2012). Some consequences of having too little. Science, 338, 682–685.Google Scholar
Sheehy, A. (2017). The rise of the far right. Harvard Political Review.http://harvardpolitics.com/world/rise-of-far-right/.Google Scholar
Sherif, M., Harvey, O. J., White, B. J., Hood, W., & Sherif, C. W. (1961). Intergroup conflict and cooperation: The Robbers Cave experiment (pp. 155–184). Norman, OK: University Book Exchange.Google Scholar
Southern Poverty Law Center. (2017). Hate groups increase for second consecutive year as Trump electrifies radical right. www.splcenter.org/news/2017/02/15/hate-groups-increase-second-consecutive-year-trump-electrifies-radical-rightGoogle Scholar
Suls, R. (2017). Public divided over Keystone XL, Dakota pipelines: Democrats turn decisively against Keystone. Pew Research Center.www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/21/public-divided-over-keystone-xl-dakota-pipelines-democrats-turn-decisively-against-keystone/Google Scholar
Tajfel, H., Turner, J. C., Austin, W. G., & Worchel, S. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In Hatch, M. J. & Schultz, M. (Eds.), Organizational identity: A reader (pp. 56–65). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Trenberth, K. E., Fasullo, J. T., & Shepherd, T. G. (2015). Attribution of climate extreme events. Nature Climate Change, 5, 725–730.Google Scholar
Trombley, J., Chalupka, S., & Anderko, L. (2017). Climate change and mental health. American Journal of Nursing, 117, 44–52.Google Scholar
Vainio, A., Mäkiniemi, J. P., & Paloniemi, R. (2014). System justification and the perception of food risks. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 17, 509–523.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Weele, J. J. (2014). Inconvenient truths: Determinants of strategic ignorance in moral dilemmas. https://ssrn.com/abstract=2247288Google Scholar
van Setten, M., Scheepers, P., & Lubbers, M. (2017). Support for restrictive immigration policies in the European Union, 2002–2013: The impact of economic strain and ethnic threat for vulnerable economic groups. European Societies, 19, 440–465. DOI:10.1080/14616696.2016.1268705.Google Scholar
Vinik, D. (2016). Why the GOP is trying to stop the Pentagon’s climate plan. Politico. www.politico.com/agenda/story/2016/06/republicans-trying-to-stop-pentagon-climate-plan-000149Google Scholar
von Uexkull, N., Croicu, M., Fjelde, H., & Buhaug, H. (2016). Civil conflict sensitivity to growing-season drought. Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, 113, 12391–12396.Google Scholar
Warner, K., Hamza, M., Oliver-Smith, A., Renaud, F., & Julca, A. (2010). Climate change, environmental degradation and migration. Natural Hazards, 55, 689–715.Google Scholar
Warrell, C. E., Femia, F., & Sternberg, T. (2015). Did we see it coming? State fragility, climate vulnerability, and the uprisings in Syria and Egypt. SAIS Review of International Affairs, 35, 29–46.Google Scholar
Weems, C. F., Watts, S. E., Marsee, M. A., Taylor, L. K., Costa, N. M., Cannon, M. F., Carrion, V. G., & Pina, A. A. (2007). The psychosocial impact of Hurricane Katrina: Contextual differences in psychological symptoms, social support, and discrimination. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 45, 2295–2306.Google Scholar
Wong, J. C., & Levin, S. (2016). Standing Rock protestors hold out against extraordinary police violence. Guardian.www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/29/standing-rock-protest-north-dakota-shutdown-evacuationGoogle Scholar
Zoppo, A. (2017). Meet the four Republican lawmakers who want to abolish the EPA. NBC News.www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/meet-4-republican-lawmakers-who-want-abolish-epa-n717061Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×