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Common human identity and the path to global climate justice

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Abstract

With the 2015 summit on global climate change in Paris, political action will (or will not) be taken to tackle the threats of the global climate crisis. Both social scientists as well as conservationists have come to the conclusion that human activity is one of the main reasons for climate change and nature degradation, and the main target of justice related mitigation and adaptation responses. This article puts human (in)activity into focus, and introduces a social identity perspective on environmental justice. Specifically, it shows how conservation scientists can draw from the idea of a common human identity (CHI). It delineates how the representation of a “common human ingroup” could inform beliefs about environmental justice, which in turn should motivate individuals and groups to act in favor of the natural environment. The review highlights that social identification with all humans may represent a potential path to global environmental justice, and combines recent insights from social identity research with conservation behavior.

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Notes

  1. I am grateful to an anonymous reviewer for this intriguing idea of promoting such symbols (especially the “HOME” symbol) through climate change summits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Psychology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Humboldtstrasse 26, 07743, Jena, Germany

    Gerhard Reese

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  1. Gerhard Reese
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Correspondence to Gerhard Reese.

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Reese, G. Common human identity and the path to global climate justice. Climatic Change 134, 521–531 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1548-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-015-1548-2

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