CALS 504

April 10, 2022

“Why are you here tonight?”

This was my question to a room full of women as we sat together in the back room of the Women’s Centre of Calgary in November 2019. The topic we were gathering around was ecological grief, and although the responses to my question varied, most of them centred on the theme of responsibility. For example, “I’m here because I am concerned about the future for my grandchildren. I want them to experience the same great memories of the outdoors that I had as a child.”

I have run several workshops like this, and time and time again, the concept of responsibility to others (often specifically to their own children and grandchildren) is mentioned. This pattern isn’t isolated to women in Calgary. I’ve heard it from non-profit workers, energy professionals, politicians, and radio announcers. In almost all cases, when people share the motivations for why they do what they do, the answer comes back to accountability to their children, grandchildren, or community. Cynically, perhaps people believe that’s the answer others want to hear, yet many of the stories I’ve been told appear genuine. Additionally, I’m not the only person to observe this pattern: Nelson (2019) points out that even one of the staunchest advocates of framing climate action in terms of self-interest, Christiana Figueres, answers the question about her motivation through a story of responsibility to her children. We tend to rely on economic arguments to inspire or explain collective action, but personal anecdotes to explain one’s own motivation.

It’s this dichotomy which makes me struggle so much with the sentiment that we need to communicate climate action in terms of self-interest. When individuals are asked what motivates them to act on climate change, often the answer is altruistic. Yet the function of a business case assumes that what motivates groups of people (businesses, non-profit organizations, etc.) is self-interest (Herman & Siegelaub, 2009). How can individuals and groups composed of those very same individuals have such widely different motivations?

Reflecting on this, I realized that self-interest isn’t necessarily selfish, although I had initially understood it that way. Self-interest isn’t necessarily good or bad for climate action. What is ultimately important is how that self-interest affects the common good. Humanitarian organizations or environmental non-profit organizations have an interest in self-preservation, to ensure their work can continue. They seek projects and funding that will allow their work to endure, because they continue to see an issue to respond to. In this case, self-interest is still operating within a larger system of altruism. Arguably, the organization needs to continue so that they can continue to protect the environment or provide social aid. So, an argument based in self-interest still has an overall positive outcome for the common good.

On the contrary, if a business’ only focus is to create a profit for a small number of actors, then a self-interest argument is unlikely to convince the business leader to take climate adaptation action for the common good. In this case, self-interest is the final goal rather than just a means to continue their work.

For this blog, we were asked to articulate our position on the role of self-interest as an incentive for undertaking climate action. From my experience, individuals are generally motivated to make change because their community matters to them. Whereas, cynically, I tend to view corporate self-interest as inherently selfish. Yet when I consider self-interest within broader context – such as how an organization’s self-interest impacts the wider community – I begin to see a potential path forward. Relying on self-interest framing for a business case does not necessarily mean the wider good has been abandoned. Rather, it is a narrative tool that can be used for the betterment of the common good.  

References

Herman, B., & Siegelaub, J.M. (2009). Is this really worth the effort? The need for a business case. Project Management Institute.

Nelson, J.A. (2019). Chapter 6: Climate change and economic self-interest. In Kanbur, R., & Shue, H. (Eds). Climate justice: Integrating economics and philosophy. Oxford University Press. (pp. 113-122).