Why we aren't participating in Climate Change Activism | Timo Goeschl | TEDxUniHeidelberg

Climate change is the unintended environmental byproduct of humans’ unprecedented material wellbeing today. At the same time, it is a threat to humanity’s future. Climate action (CA) means giving up some material benefits now in order to reduce future climate damages. Timo Goeschl is a professor of economics and in this talk, he investigates, through economic experiments, the factors that determine people’s willingness to engage in voluntary CA (VCA). In the experiments, people take a decision: Receive cash – or reduce the emissions of climate changing gases. The important thing is: Both options are for real. So, how do people decide? And what determines how people choose? Identifying these factors gives Timo Goeschl hope to 'get VCA going' and shows that we have a role in nurturing VCA ourselves. Timo Goeschl is professor of Environmental Economics in the Department of Economics at Heidelberg University and director of the Research Center for Environmental Economics as well as research associate of the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim. Timo is co-editor of the journal Environmental & Resource Economics and, over the years, has advised the World Bank, the OECD, the International Maritime Organization, the UK’s Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, the Environment Agency for England and Wales, and the German Parliament (Bundestag), among others. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx