6. Impatience, Inconsistency, and Institutions to Counter Their Effects on Sustainable Forest Management

Human impatience and the inconsistency between affective and cognitive views of “otherness” undermine the foundations of sustainable forest management. Modern economies have induced institutions that reinforce this tendency, including through academic institutions where apologists for discounting flourish. It was not always so. The ethos of societies and nations supported long-term productivity against short-term interest. Individualistic ethics also internalised long-term well-being within present mental constructs. Rapid change and imposition of unfamiliar codes threaten the stability of future-protective institutions. Local sustainability may be at the expense of sustainability elsewhere. Current models of self-interest have been projected as possessing intrinsic ethical merit. Justification of discounting by financial institutions is undermined by the institutions’ actual performance. The law may accidentally assist sustainability by its universality. Commonality of interest is only efficacious for future interests if supported by a further ethical requirement, but our conforming with this requirement may encourage later generations to do so too. Some reinforcement of conscience-based behaviour may be derived from religion, mutual censure, art, academic integrity and pre-commitment, and by regarding sustainability as a present good. These seem frail motivations, but offer the best hope for future generations.