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Psychology: "If climate change were a terrorist, we would have fought it long ago"

2019-09-17T12:43:43.998Z


Why is humanity not more determined to stem the earth's heat? Communications scientist George Marshall says climate change is not enough to hurt us yet.



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Reporting on climate change is one of the major journalistic challenges of our time. The climate crisis is also one of the most important issues of humanity for SPIEGEL. For this reason, we support an international initiative that seeks to take a look this week: "Covering Climate Now" has been initiated by the Columbia Journalism Review and the Canadian newspaper "The Nation", with more than 200 media companies worldwide including the Guardian, El País, La Repubblica, The Times of India, Bloomberg or Vanity Fair. SPIEGEL is dedicating the cover story of the current issue to the climate crisis this week and every day pays special attention to mirror.de

SPIEGEL: Mr. Marshall, for decades you have been trying to convince people to do something about the climate crisis. And then comes Greta Thunberg. What does a 16-year-old girl have, what you do not have as a communication trainer?

George Marshall: No question - Greta is a strong ambassador. She does not belong to any organization or political party and lives what she proclaims. Even if you are not Gretas opinion, you have respect for their commitment. Your message is clear and with integrity. Other celebrities like Leonardo di Caprio are less credible because they fly home with their private jet after their blazing speech.

SPIEGEL: Do you still need climate communicators like you?

Marshall: It looks like Greta will reach many people. But ask people on the street in different European countries - many do not know Greta. Large sections of the population still do not see climate change as their problem. They do not personally take the risk of global warming. It does not affect them - they believe.

SPIEGEL: There has recently been a lot of discussion about whether the climate change debate is contributing to further polarization in society. What are your observations?

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Marshall: There is a clear political split in climate protection. One sees that well in Germany: The rights of the alternative for Germany believe that climate protection is a left-wing topic. That's why they reject it. Above all, it was left and green movements that first listened to science. In the United States, business-friendly think tanks and right-wing groups have long been financing the fight against climate protection - that is almost a political tradition. The AfD or Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro copy this behavior. The louder the left and the green demand climate protection, the more skeptical the other side becomes. The ambassador is rejected, not the message.

SPIEGEL: Why do not people take a global catastrophe like global warming seriously or even deny it?

Marshall: You can not touch climate change. It is for many in the future and it is a complex, global problem. None of us has ever experienced that weather could change permanently. That's all hard to imagine.

SPIEGEL: But you can feel the weather - and its changes too.

Marshall: The consequences are already noticeable today. But it often gets drier where it has always been dry. Or in Wales: Where it was always wet, it rains even more. The changes happen slowly and the consequences are insidious. We believe we can handle it because we already know it.

SPIEGEL: So we believe that is already narrowing again.

Marshall: Yes. A tragic mistake. This has psychological causes: to change something, we need a narrative. Usually such a story has a hero and a villain. But climate change is different. We are all to blame and will all feel the consequences. The good and evil of climate change is part of us and our lives. If climate change were a terrorist, we would have fought it long ago. Western countries have mobilized trillions of euros over the past decade to hunt terrorists around the world. Against global warming, which is far more dangerous, we spent only a fraction.

SPIEGEL: But there are already polluters and enemies of climate protection: coal companies, ExxonMobil ...

Marshall: No. Fossil corporations or climate deniers like Donald Trump do not do climate protection, but they do not act to vandalize the weather and cause drought or flooding. In part, they simply deny the causes that cause suffering and pretend it's none of their business. This is something else.

SPIEGEL: And how should climate change be told so that we can think about it?

Marshall: The problem is that the messenger of the "bad news" has been the science so far. Unfortunately, scientific facts rarely convince: it has been clear for decades that tobacco smoke is harmful to humans. Nevertheless, many people still smoke and in some countries there are even more. When it comes to climate change, they do not even realize how damaging it is: A flight to New York does not hurt them personally.

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SPIEGEL: Who should convey the message then?

Marshall: We all have to do that. It's about people talking to each other about the subject: in the family, at work, in sports. Talk about it! With everyone and everywhere. The biggest problem is the silence around the crisis.

SPIEGEL: How do you convince your conversation partners?

Marshall: Open a door by treating your interlocutor respectfully. One should avoid thinking of the other as stupid and let him feel it. Be open in the conversation and listen to the other version with interest. It's not about who is right. But make your point clear without offending the other. It is especially convincing when you explain how you got your opinion. And do not expect everyone to be convinced the first time. Some will never reach you. And others might think about it for the first time on the way home. These are the small successes.

Source: spiegel

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