Whose Actions Matter?
6 years, 10 months, 18 days, 5 hours
4 September 2022
I suspect most people feel what they do doesn’t really make a difference.
Last Monday, which was a Bank Holiday in the UK, I decided to go kayaking on the River Ouse. The river is fed from the waters of the Yorkshire Dales via the River Ure, and runs through the centre of the City of York and south until it reaches the Humber estuary, near Hull. It was the inaugural outing for an inflatable kayak that I purchased enthusiastically during lockdown and then somehow had only been inflated once before on the kitchen floor.
I had a lovely day, except for one thing. As soon as I was on the water I noticed something that made me really sad. Even though they were bordering the UK’s sixth longest river, many of the trees along the bank were clearly suffering, and some of them – huge, old, broadleaf trees - had gone completely brown. Unless that far-too-early shutdown for winter saves them, they will be dead.
It was the same story the day before. I was at one of the country’s National Trust gardens, Beningbrough Hall. It didn’t surprise me that some of the conifers were half-brown – they are notoriously shallow-rooted – but I was shocked to find yew trees looking similar and again some huge broadleaved trees I doubt will make it to next year.
Perhaps none of this should come as a surprise. Much of the UK is officially in drought conditions. There are bans on the use of hoses in gardens in much of the country, including Yorkshire. Temperatures hit unprecedented highs last month. The north is always wetter than the south but the east of the country, where York is located, is always much drier than the west (as anyone who has lived in or visited Manchester will attest). And I need to put my concern for dying trees in the perspective of parts of the world where soaring temperatures and lack of rain have led to wildfires, death from heat exposure, and famine from failure of crops.
But what really bothers me is this. I can see UK society visibly concerned as I am by the effects of the drought, including on our natural habitat. And I can read every day now in the papers an article explaining how it is a function of climate change due to carbon emissions, and how serious it is. But I can’t see much evidence that this concern is translating into any greater determination to do what needs to be done, to change our lifestyles, to protect the future of planet and society.
Why not must be in the realms of psychology. I suspect most people feel what they do doesn’t really make a difference. And whilst if every person in the world changed their behaviour, it would make a big difference, it is true that some individuals are in positions where their actions can have a disproportionately big effect. Like political leaders. Like business leaders. Like those whose job, like mine, is to help organisations transform.