Fines, fees, pollution credit-swaps – policymakers have advocated many different approaches for sustaining the economy, often with mixed success. Now two Wharton professors have concluded that re-framing environmental issues in such a way that individuals feel encouraged to take a personal initiative may be a better approach.
While simply asking people to "do the right thing" might sound naïve, Paul R. Kleindorfer, a professor of management science, and Ulku Oktem, a senior research fellow at Wharton's Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, argue that such an approach may be the most effective way to prevent a global ecological catastrophe. Since environmental degradation is the sum of individual choices, they say, the best route for policymakers who want to promote environmentally sustainable policies must be through appeals to individuals. However, they add, those appeals would need to be made in a way that emphasizes personal responsibility.
The public generally sees environmental issues as problems that must be solved by governments and corporations, but Kleindorfer says that he and Oktem believe that perspective overlooks the crucial role that individuals play – both as actors in larger organizations and as consumers. "That individual perspective is one that we believe is absolutely central to this issue of the environment and environmental sustainability," he says.
Kleindorfer and Oktem presented their findings at the first United Nations Global Compact academic conference held in Istanbul, Turkey, from May 30 to June 1. The conference, titled "Bridging the Gap: Sustainable Environment," brought together academics and industry experts from around the world to discuss issues related to facilitating innovation and transfer of environmentally sound technologies.
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