Controversial! Have you thought about the balance between your concern for yourself and your concern for others when it comes to behaviours affecting climate change?

At the first Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) CLIMATES workshop, a participant who I greatly respect introduced me to the simple notion of concern for self versus concern for others. I can’t name them because CIHT CLIMATES operates under Chatham House Rule. But if they want to declare themselves here please do.

I’ve spent some time this morning trying to articulate this through an example – please see diagram with post.

Here’s the scenario:

😩 You’re exhausted from the grind of daily life.
🌍 You know about climate change.
✈ You get offered a free one-week trip to the other side of the world by private jet to rest and relax.

So what would YOU do?

Here are some possibilities:

🗨 Self-High / Others-High – “I’ll say no but treat myself to some self care nearer home.”

🗨 Self-Low / Others-High – “No way! People are dying from climate change.”

🗨 Self-Low / Others-Low – “I’m too beat to care or take action on the offer.”

🗨 Self-High / Others-Low – “Lucky me! And you know what, I deserve it.”

🗨 Self-Medium / Others-Medium – “I could say ‘yes’ and pay double the offset?”

Of course real life is somewhat more complicated. We don’t know the person’s circumstances, we may have different interpretations of fairness, we may wonder whether concern for others is truly altruistic.

I look forward to any views and challenges!

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