Media contributions
1Media contributions
Title A climate change paradox: instead of worrying about not being seen as moral enough, politicians don’t want to appear too moral Degree of recognition International Media name/outlet The Irish Times Media type Web Country/Territory UK United Kingdom Date 3/10/24 Description A study among UK MPs found many feared being seen as zealots - but has an Irish TD found a better way?
What makes a climate leader credible? It’s hard to take a climate advocate seriously if their personal actions contradict their message. Our aversion to hypocrisy makes it easy to dismiss leaders who don’t practice what they preach.
But climate leaders face a dilemma when it comes to cutting back on their own high-emitting practices – while they acknowledge the importance of leading by example, they also don’t want to be seen as virtue signalling or moralising.
A recent study led by Steve Westlake of Cardiff University explored this dilemma, by interviewing UK members of parliament to explore their attitudes and approaches to “leading by example” on climate. The paper points to evidence for the public’s appetite for clear and consistent leadership on climate from government, and contrasts this with avoidable high-carbon behaviours, such as King Charles’s jarring decision to fly by private jet to the Cop28 climate conference, which undermines their credibility.URL https://www.irishtimes.com/environment/climate-crisis/2024/10/03/a-climate-change-paradox-instead-of-worrying-about-not-being-seen-as-moral-enough-politicians-dont-want-to-appear-too-moral/ Persons Steve Westlake
Keywords
- Climate change
- Behaviour change
- Politicians
- Leadership