Will 2024 Be Another 1 in 100,000 Years?

Let's start by considering a famous quote often linked to Albert Einstein: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Regardless of one's stance on whether Einstein actually said this, the quote's relevance is evident in the ongoing efforts against climate change around the globe.

Over nearly four decades, global attempts to fight climate change have stuck to a predictable playbook, emphasizing technology, policy, and finance with little emphasis on the leading cause: peoples’ behaviour, and attitude towards the climate. These approaches, which are based on an economic model that assumes rational decision-making based on an equitable playing field and motivated by the desire to maximize utility, have repeatedly failed to produce the desired results.

An illustrative example is the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) declaring 2023 as the hottest year on record, with Earth's surface temperature increase surpassing any period in the last 100,000 years.

While the gravity of this situation is beyond imagination, a crucial question arises: How much longer will the world persist with ineffective strategies before facing even more severe consequences? To borrow from Isaac Newton, "A body will continue in its state of rest or uniform motion until a force is applied." In this context, the force is a compelling paradigm shift in our approach, which is urgent and imperative.

Join us in the weeks ahead as we dare to break the chains of this collective lunacy and explore alternative climate mitigation strategies, drawing insight from Nudge Theory, behavioural science, and principles of psychology.