Preprint Concept Paper Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Choices We Make: Rethinking Decision-making in the Context of Climate Crisis

Version 1 : Received: 27 January 2020 / Approved: 28 January 2020 / Online: 28 January 2020 (10:44:27 CET)



How to cite: Waeber, P.; Stoudmann, N.; Ghazoul, J.; Wilmé, L.; Sayer, J.; Nobre, C.; Innes, J.; Garcia, C. Choices We Make: Rethinking Decision-making in the Context of Climate Crisis. Preprints 2020, 2020010339 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0339.v1). Waeber, P.; Stoudmann, N.; Ghazoul, J.; Wilmé, L.; Sayer, J.; Nobre, C.; Innes, J.; Garcia, C. Choices We Make: Rethinking Decision-making in the Context of Climate Crisis. Preprints 2020, 2020010339 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0339.v1). Copy

Cite as: Waeber, P.; Stoudmann, N.; Ghazoul, J.; Wilmé, L.; Sayer, J.; Nobre, C.; Innes, J.; Garcia, C. Choices We Make: Rethinking Decision-making in the Context of Climate Crisis. Preprints 2020, 2020010339 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0339.v1). Waeber, P.; Stoudmann, N.; Ghazoul, J.; Wilmé, L.; Sayer, J.; Nobre, C.; Innes, J.; Garcia, C. Choices We Make: Rethinking Decision-making in the Context of Climate Crisis. Preprints 2020, 2020010339 (doi: 10.20944/preprints202001.0339.v1). Copy CANCEL COPY CITATION DETAILS

Abstract

Leaders are failing to respond to the climate and environmental urgency the world is facing. A growing action gap, clearly visible during the recent CoP25, has been fueled by leaders' inability to respond efficiently to the mounting threats scientists—and increasingly society—are concerned about. Bridging this gap and tackling the growing polarization within society calls for leaders to accept the full complexity of the issues the world is facing. This will require them to question their understanding of these geopolitical affairs and embrace the dynamics at play, and avoid falling back on simplistic cognitive models. We propose a heuristic to convey the pathways available to decision-makers to make their way out of the current inaction impasse. By breaking free of this deadlock, a social transition will have the potential to take place, helping us to avoid crossing the climate system tipping points.

Subject Areas

decision-making; change; behavior; climate change; deforestation; social norms; lobbyist, climate denier

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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