Rethinking government capacities to tackle wicked problems : mind, emotion, bias and decision-making : an experimental trial using mindfulness and behavioural economics

As I write, climate change scientists are predicting that, unless we take immediate and radical action, this century will end in catastrophic climate change. My daughter is 19, she has already lived through the 18 hottest years, since records began (Nasa, 2020). The IPCC reports she will, in her lifetime, see dramatic changes to the climate that are likely to severely impact food growing and supplies, endanger species' and wildlife and lead to large scale human migration, with the likely potential of small and large scale conflicts in the face of scarcity of resources. On this theme, BBC Radio 4 ushered in the third decade of the 21st century by bringing together wildlife presenter David Attenborough and teenage climate change activist Greta Thunberg to share their perspectives on the climate emergency. During the broadcast these two generations, representing the two extremes of a lifespan, shared their frustrations at a lack of adequate government action. In the same programme Greta's father, Svante, gave an interview, something which happens rarely given his daughters fame. During the discussion he admitted, despite travelling the globe supporting his daughter's campaign, he does not himself identify as a climate activist. Indeed he says he has only ever wanted to support Greta, not to save a planet, but so that she, and her sister, are happy. Prior to Greta becoming an activist she had suffered from depression which had included her going on hunger strike for three months, a difficult thing for a parent to watch. Once she started the school climate strikes her depression lifted and, as Svante pointed out to the interviewer, wouldn't any parent be happy if their child started being happy and eating again? Svante Thunberg's comments offer a good starting point for the topic and interest of my research; in the face of overwhelming (and frightening) evidence of global warming he does not become a climate activist, instead he sees himself as just a devoted father, motivated to support his daughter to flourish and be happy. Svante is like most of us who, in the face of significant evidence of long term threats (alcohol consumption, obesity, lack of a pension, climate catastrophe) fail to respond in the most rational way. Rather, we do what we think will work best in the short term, based not on evidence, but on how we feel, and what we see people around us are doing. We do things to support our friends and family, and in response to the demands of our many and changing contexts of home and work. My research, rooted in a career working on environmental behaviour change and social inequality, explores how emotions and perception influence our reasoning, and in turn how this affects the quality of the decisions we make, and the actions we take particularly in policy making organisations, situated in the wider context of climate and social change.