Scientists Warn of the Behavioural Crisis Behind Ecological Overshoot

The ecological crisis that humanity is now facing consists of threatening the survival of millions of species, the stability of our climate, and the well-being of future generations. These are undeniable results of excessive garbage and pollution contributed by human beings, along with unsustainable use of natural resources. But what can be the underlying causes that get us to this ecological overshoot, and how can we turn it back?

The paper, entitled “World Scientists’ Warning: The Behavioural Crisis Driving Ecological Overshoot,” written by a multidisciplinary team of scientists ranging from clinicians and psychologists to ecologists and economists, appeared in the journal BioScience. This study would seem to point out a need for psychosocial and cultural drivers underlying our choices and behaviors, since the ecological problem in these terms is one that’s behavioral.

This report supplements previous “World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity” statements that, since 1992, have forthrightly been shared by thousands of scientists worldwide in their call for action to protect the environment and public health. “Humanity is unequivocally facing a climate emergency” and “we must act now to avoid irreversible consequences for life on Earth” were themes of the most recent declaration, released in 2022.

scientists warn behavioural crisis ecological overshoot, Photo by geograph.org.uk, CC LICENSES

For this reason, despite these warnings, according to the authors of this present study, humankind has not gone far enough in attempting to reduce such greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, deforestation, land degradation, freshwater depletion, ocean acidification, and other signs of ecological overshoot. They therefore attributed this failure to a lack of behavioral change rather than technological or scientific understanding.

They listed four major behavioral drivers of ecological overshoot: denial, short-termism, overpopulation, and over-consumerism. Drivers are shaped, they said, by psychological, social factors-including norms, incentives, institutions, and power structures-and cultural ones, including worldviews, beliefs, narratives, and identities.

They also provide four basic behavioral solutions to ecological overshoot: transformation, efficiency, resilience, and sufficiency. They explain how such solutions may come into being through designing interventions and policies which have proved effectively promoting and supporting more sustainable behaviors and lifestyles by bringing in knowledge about behavioral insights emanating from a set of academic disciplines like political science, economics, sociology, psychology, and anthropology.

They therefore conclude that “behavioural change is essential if humanity is to achieve ecological sustainability and well-being” and also that it is true “behavioural science can provide valuable insights and tools for facilitating such change”. In order to respond to the behavioral challenge posed by ecological overshoot, they appeal for a stronger interdisciplinary collaboration by scientists, politicians, practitioners, educators, the media, and civil society.

They further call on people to take collective action so that there can be demands for systemic change, support the systemic change in addition to taking personal responsibilities for individual choices and actions. “Everyone has a part to play in building a more sustainable future for ourselves and other species,” they say. We invite you to contribute to this effort.