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30 - Climate Change

A Challenge to Human Rights, Justice, Equality, and Human Well-Being

from Part III - Contemporary Issues in Psychology and Human Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2020

Neal S. Rubin
Affiliation:
Adler University
Roseanne L. Flores
Affiliation:
Hunter College, City University of New York
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Summary

Climate change poses a profound challenge to human well-being and the very foundation of social justice and human rights. This chapter applies a psychological lens to understand the impacts of and responses to climate change at individual and societal levels. We describe the dire mental health implications of climate change impacts, which cause trauma and uproot lives, destabilize socioeconomic and governance institutions, exacerbate inequality by disproportionately impacting vulnerable communities, and spur conflict through resource scarcity and uncertainty. We examine group identity and belonging dynamics driving societal conflict, including competition over resources; scapegoating, hate crimes, and exclusionary politics; ethnic and political strife surrounding immigration; and political polarization and the rise of far-right parties – and consider their human rights implications. We then explore the psychology of climate inaction. Our moral judgment system is unable to grapple with a psychologically distant threat whose cause is endemic to the foundation of society. Motivated reasoning processes, including identity-protective cognition and system justification, contribute to moral disengagement and resistance to direly needed systemic changes. We offer psychologically informed approaches for overcoming inaction through communication, solution design, and empowerment. Finally, we overview international climate efforts, with a focus on the UN 2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable Development.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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