Climate change engagement and personal values

The theme ‘climate change engagement and personal values’ emphasises the personal aspects of climate change engagement. This theme entails personal values, attitudes, and ethics related to climate change engagement. The personal relationship to climate change engagement is discussed as being intertwined with one’s professional engagement with climate change.

This construction emphasises climate change engagement for personal gratification and satisfaction. Personal gratification is achieved when one has done

‘right’ in respect to own values or towards others:

And it makes you feel happy when you know that … is it conscience or such that is good when we’ve really thought about these things as well. (I12)

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Ja se tuo niiku hirveesti hyvää mieltä, kun tietää, että … onks se nyt omatunto vai sellanen, joka niiku tykkää hyvää, kun on mietitty ihan oikeesti myös tätä kohtaa. (I12)

No, because it can’t be seen anywhere, I can’t really say anything else except that you know when you’ve done right, so that gives you gratification. (I4) Ei, kun ei sitä näe missään, en mä oikein osaa sanoa muuta kun sen että tietää, että on tehnyt oikein, niin siitä saa itselle hyvän mielen. (I4)

Well, my motivation for this work comes specifically from the feeling that I can do good, like I said, to be one of the good guys, or to save the planet as my profession. It’s like, an absolutely great thing that motivates me every single day. (I8)

No, tässä työssä mua motivoi nimenomaan se, että mulla on semmonen olo, et mä saan tehdä hyvää, niinku että sanoin, että hyvän puolella, tai että ammatikseni pelastaa maailmaa, se on niiku se, ehdottomasti se hieno asia, mikä motivoi ihan joka päivä. (I8)

These quotes support the findings presented by Wright and Nyberg (2012, p. 1582) as they note that climate change is an issue in which sustainability specialists can

”marry their personal concerns with broader business objectives”.

Wright et al. (2012) have explored the identities of sustainability specialists and in the ‘business as change agents’ theme both the identities of rational manager and the green change agent were identifiable. The green change agent, promoting environmental sustainability in work and non-work settings and constructing positive image of creating a more sustainable organisation, is quite alike to the constructions identified in this theme.

Similarly to the theme discussing climate change engagement as the ‘right thing to do’, the personal value theme presents climate change engagement as something that respectable individuals with good morale engage with. This construction acknowledges that it is not always easy to do right but it is the obligation of a good citizen:

[…] you really need to be quite involved to make such choices even if you do not particularly, or for instance that lentil patties do not really taste good, but that I will be a good citizen and eat the lentil patties. (I3)

[…] sit täytyy olla aika vihkiytynyt, että tekee semmosia valintoja, että vaikka ei erityisesti, tai tietää vaikka että linssipihvit ei nyt oo kovin hyviä, mutta että, kyllä mä oon kunnon kansalainen, niin mä otan linssipihvejä. (I3)

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Constructing climate change as a personal issue presents climate change as something that can be denied, believed in and to have opinions about. This comes apparent in remarks where the interviewees discuss ‘converting’ or ‘awakening’ to climate change. Converting refers to changing of people’s attitudes and awakening to getting people to acknowledge climate change and the need for action. The notion of awakening constructs climate change as something that the majority of people are still oblivious of. Thus, individuals can either ‘awaken’ or become awakened to the issue. This metaphor is also extended to climate change information. This is illustrated when the interviewees comment on how they were surprised by the new information about climate change. The metaphor of awakening produces climate change as an object that can be perceived in different ways depending on one’s awareness. The following quotes illustrate how the metaphors of awakening and coverting were used in the interview data:

And then seriously, people awaken to the reality that beef produces the large carbon footprint. (I11)

Ja tosissaan sitten se, että herätään siihen todellisuuteen, et se naudanliha tuottaa sitä isoa hiilijalanjälkeä. (I11)

And it is such a matter that it proceeds little by little, one must do like the so called, er, let me see, positive conversion and then convert one person at a time (laughter). (I10)

Ja se on semmonen, että se etenee tavallaan aika pikkuhiljaa, että sitä on niiku semmosta niin sanottua, hmm, miten sanosin, positiivista käännytystyötä tehtävä ja sitten käännytetään niitä ihmisiä yks kerrallaan (naurua). (I10)

Referring to awakening and converting acknowledges that climate change is both a matter of knowledge and faith: both accurate information and willingness to know are needed to change behaviour. The first quote illustrates this by stating ”to awaken to the reality” which refers to a notion of an objective truth about climate change as a fact and to the view that some people choose to ignore or deny this fact. This statement implies that climate change is a truth and that denying it is avoiding responsibility and the reality.

The awakening construction has similarities with the construction of ‘business as change agents’, while both these constructions emphasise change and transformation of one’s own and others’ attitudes and behaviour. However, the rational ‘business as change agents’ focuses on rational reasoning for change and climate change engagement and suggests that such change is necessary for the

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benefit and survival of the society at large. In addition, ‘business as change agents’

constructs business professionals as educators of customers. In that construction there is someone else (i.e. the business professional) who initiates the change. On the other hand, the awakening construction has a more internal focus relying on personal transformation that is initiated through awakening and due to moral and ethical concerns. Awakening, however, can be initiated by the self or by others.

The awakening metaphor is a similar construction to what Wright et al. (2012, p. 1468) have discussed as transformation. They present that by referring to the transformation of the self, sustainability specialists described how their attitudes have evolved over time as they have been exposed to new information. Likewise, in the interview data these changes and new realisations are celebrated and emphasis is placed on transformation and epiphany. Wright et al. (2012) have also discussed sacrifice linked to transformation, for instance noting that sustainability specialists might have resigned in order to be able to pursue the new transformed self. These kinds of notions did not emerge in the data.

Overall, the theme ‘climate change engagement and personal values’ maintains what recent studies have suggested. Williams and Schaefer (2013) have concluded that managers’ personal values and beliefs appeared as the most notable motivation to engage with climate change, after economic arguments and external pressure. In addition, Brønn and Vidaver-Cohen (2008) have identified ’personal satisfaction’ as motive for corporate social initiative even though noting that moral motives were considered less relevant than motives related to legitimacy motives or to strategic concerns. Likewise, Nyberg & Wright (2012) have presented that while market values dominated, managers expressed plural values showing simultaneously passion for the environment and an aim of creating a better society. However, these remarks are still quite rare. Hence, the findings presented here contribute to this emerging discussion.