Protecting the climate - How the human brain prevents us from saving the world | DW Documentary

hey hey many people are working to Halt climate change but only with limited success why have climate researchers been unable to Halt global warming I've been working in research for decades I publish the scientific results but that's achieved relatively little why doesn't science ific data about climate change lead to [Music] action I guess I haven't been doing it right or there have been a significant drop in global emissions coal oil and gas continue to be used as fuel why the world would be very different if it weren't for the Dirty Deeds of the fossil fuel

[Music] lobbyists climate activists often in on trial but can their controversial tactics Force change of course there is resistance but we might ultimately be successful but time is running out why is it taking the world so long to act we can't assume that just because Society feels ethically compelled to save the world it will it's psychology mindset that determines whether it'll succeed or not [Music] researcher mojib Latif is trying to find the best way how can we still Save the Planet un unbelievable I've never seen anything like this [Music] before climate scientists have been warning

about global warming for decades but their words have fallen on deaf ears knowledge has failed to translate into action we need to communicate the issues in a different more emotional way Germany's last generation protest movement emerged in 2021 co-founder Leia bonacera went on a hunger strike demanding a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Schultz [Music] I'm not sure you heard what I said the fate of millions of people is at stake the young activists planned their first protests in this Berlin Church the group intensified its strategy after meeting with Chancellor Schultz their convictions are based on

data provided by scientists such as mujib Latif [Music] cycling onto the runway climate activists have occupied the Hamburg Airport flight operations are paralyzed we can't stand by while our planet Burns and the German government's obsession with fossil fuel Stokes the fire I can't condone the tactics of the last generation movement no one is above the law even if their goals are worthy it's not that I want to anger people I don't enjoy annoying them but I've read the science and I'm trying to figure out how this can work hey hey of course it's stressful for

people for me too and of course the hate directed at us is [Music] horrible I think the last generation is very focused on where we want to go and we know that this method has often worked why shouldn't it work for us now when is protest effective when does it do more harm than good questions that researchers have been exploring for decades there's a danger that protesters come across as missionaries do Goods or know it alls you have to be careful to strike the right tone and not make yourself out to be a savior of

the [Music] world I believe scientists have a responsibility to step up and say it can't go on like this and even to go on strike as an act of resistance I think I would lose a lot of credibility if I did that that's why I don't credibility is crucial a lot of people listen to what I say that's a huge asset and I don't want to jeopardize it meanwhile the last generation activists are facing pressure from raids to arrests and charges there 13 charges against me from the first protests I did with last generation of

course I'm upset by the prospect of going to jail it's a bit unfair the people responsible for climate change aren't on trial protest challenges people Society politics democracy and of course there will be resistance but we might ultimately achieve our goals we can't allow an environmental RAF to develop the last generation rejects anything to do with sabotage or even terrorism or violent damage to property mashed potatoes and paint can always be wiped off hello but even so many see the young activists as anything but peaceful [Music] we are essentially radical but not in our methods

no matter what happens in terms of the last generation strategy will always be peaceful protesters because that's vital to a successful resistance the terrorism of the 1970s and ' 80s in Germany showed that you can't bring the state to its knees with violence you can only lose leera has been sentenced to a fine of ,800 by The berin District [Music] Court a fine is not a prison sentence to be honest I'm relieved it would be completely disproportionate to send her to prison I still think it's a bit counterproductive because now there's a lot of talk

about this form of protest and less about the actual issue which is how do we reduce greenhouse gas emissions an issue that's been debated since the 1980s the media finally took up the story after scientists presented the evidence altogether this evidence represents a very strong case in my opinion that the greenhouse effect has been detected and it is changing our climate now hon James Henson gave the world a wakeup call and put the issue on the global political agenda [Music] that spegel headline in 1986 was totally over the top but in a way marked the

beginning of the public discussion in Germany about climate [Music] change the framework convention on climate change was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 the signatory countries agreed to prevent dangerous climate change I believe it is very important for Germany's reputation in the world and even more so for future Generations that we see the writing on the [Music] wall as a young scientist I was convinced that we had the data the climate would be protected and the problem [Music] solved I would never have expected the massive backlash from Lobby groups that

ultimately prevented progress on climate protection which is why emissions continue to Rise To This Day founded in 1989 the Global Climate Coalition has been one of the biggest Lobby groups corporations including Ford and Exxon spend Millions promoting false information for several years after its merger with Chrysler Mercedes-Benz was part of the group challenging the idea of human induced climate change the management of Exxon for example financed advertorials in major US newspapers such as the New York Times for years these look like normal opinion pieces but they're paid for Exon systematically spread false [Music] information Exon

was up to date with the scientific research our studies showed that exxon's projections were even more [Music] accurate social scientists have shown that hundreds of millions of dollars have been pumped in every year to Lobby against climate protection measures and obviously very successfully what happened with climate change was a bit like what happened with smoking it was established that smoking is harmful to health but then the smoker Lobby the tobacco companies started to set up fake [Music] [Applause] institutes the industry the tobacco industry is on the defensive it's a similar situation to 10 years ago

when it was suggested that there is a link between smok and lung cancer the Royal College caused the shares of American Tobacco companies to fall sharply in April 62 did the Royal College itself carry out any research investigations or develop people who had no idea about the issue made statements and acted as if they did arguing against the evidence and sewing doubt saying well it hasn't actually been proven that smoking is really harmful to health for decades large sectors of Industry the petroleum industry the fossil fuel industry in general have used false claims to attempt

to save their business models spending Millions on smear campaigns that undermine The credibility of scientists we can't carry on like this we can't expect self-restraint from industry we have to get politicians to take deliberate and effective action to repeat the climate is like a runaway train even if you pull the emergency break the train won't stop immediately it'll keep going for hundreds of meters that's the situation we're in you have to realize that many people in business in management positions but also ordinary citizens don't want to believe that climate change is happening there's a huge

market for excuses for doing nothing about it and these lobbyists serve that market with arguments that are all too readily repeated are people unwilling to acknowledge things that require them to change their [Music] behavior my experience is that it's incredibly difficult to let go of habits lobbyists know that all too well to show why let's look at a brain you can see there are specific regions in the center of the brain that control our actions subconsciously so to speak there are two spheres and this here is the Basel ganglia this controls subconscious activities when we

decide to take conscious action that's up here at the front up here in the upper area is where the signals are sent from but once this is automated it happens subconsciously you don't have to think about it anymore why is this so difficult isn't change also buils into the brain somewhere what we can do is overwrite a habit with a new habit we have to identify actions or activities as a new habit because we can't just switch off the old one we have to decide what is a better alternative we're running out of time we

can't wait for new habits to become ingrained how can we change now it would be nice if there was a button somewhere that we could just hit and the Brain would change Mobility behavior is a good example it takes time to get used to new forms of movement but once they're learned they stay learned the problem today is whether it's Lobby groups or the way we imagine the future is that we stick to what we know and try to protect it is this another reason why the expansion of renewable energies is stalling [Music] after an

initial boom in Germany things began to go downhill around 2017 laws prevented expansion and companies left the country legislation on renewable energies has been modified in such a way that the expansion has been massively hindered and has practically come to a standstill we even saw an economics Minister talking about how it was ing trillions a claim he couldn't back up and saying the energy transition was unaffordable there was a whole PR campaign and all sorts of [Music] stories proving the extent of the carbon Lobby's power is difficult but one example over 600 lobbyists were officially

accredited at the 2022 un climate conference in Egypt [Music] more and more lobbyists are running around at climate conferences on behalf of industry and then what about the president of the 2023 climate conference the president of the 2023 climate conference is also the head of a huge Oil Company a conflict of interest in the fight against fossil fuels that's a nogo it's unacceptable we know personally I feel like the guy in Groundhog Day time and time again the lobbyists show up and manage to get everything done their way [Music] I this is really [Music] frightening

the situation in the forest near lupain remains tense fires continue to rage in the dry forests near lupain as someone who sits at a a desk and makes computer simulations actually seeing it is different the village of ker was evacuated yesterday climate change is causing more frequent extreme weather including longer dry [Music] spells it's unbelievable what a fire can do it's Indescribable I've never seen anything like it everything is destroyed [Music] it's the extremes that have changed we either have extremely heavy rainfall or like right now extremely long periods without rain so we can definitely

say yes we are noticing climate change we need to acknowledge the need for more investment in coming years to make sure we're okay the high cost of extreme weather due to climate change in the worst case it could reach 900 billion e by [Music] 2050 climate change is already costing a lot today several billion euros a year for Germany but this is just the beginning the forest fires in Canada continue to spread Canada Canada has launched an international appeal for help two weeks of forest fire is now flooding a Biblical disaster it's the fourth night

of heavy rainfall in Greece a state of emergency has been declared in the [Music] region storm Daniel hit the East Coast of lib with full force at the weekend authorities are expecting up to 20,000 deaths in the coastal town [Music] of cities and Villages especially vulnerable to extreme weather may eventually have to be abandoned could a small town in Wales be the first in Europe fairborne a village on the Irish sea has recently been making headlines across Europe the sea level here could Rise by as much as 30 cm by 2054 making fairborne vulnerable to

flooding from the sea a nearby Estuary and River runoff flowing down from the hills is it already Beyond saving 2054 when the local Authority have said that they are no longer spending money on the uh coastal defense if it if it breaches well big changes have come along and you adapt some of that's painful some of that you do swiftly and it's [Music] effortless that's the problem in this region is that these communities are on the coast putting them at risk from rising sea levels we'll eventually have to ask ourselves if it's always worth helping

people adapt if the worst can no longer be prevented and the decision was made that in fairborne it's not M people are aware of the effects of climate change but they're not doing much about it I keep telling people that we are running into big problems okay but nothing is really happening in terms of climate action so why do you think nothing happens probably because people don't believe it they they they've got to see it to believe it and slowly but surely they are Awakening to what's going on it's just like the village I live

in we're threatened by being flooded by the Sea they have come to look what they purchased the houses they purchased that they were going to leave for their generations for their children were then spiraling down to being worthless uh and that shooked them right down at the roots he shook everybody you know how can this happen to us [Music] I've got no car I wash once a week I shower once a week I wash my hair once a fortnite uh that when I wash in the sink with my clothes I save the water and I

use it for putting down the toilet right right and and my my wants are very few these days yeah and so this Village will be given up this is what want believe I don't believe I'm optimistic I think with all the clever people we've got in the country there bound to they bound to come up with some solution with some solution to this the authorities have since rode back evacuating residents was never on the cards despite what was said in the last 10 years but if no more money is spent on Coastal protection the town

is in danger of being flooded what do you do with for 400 houses M 400 families every time we have a meeting we talk to the council about this and they haven't got an answer uh and it's it's what that is the most frustrating thing to actually threaten to decommission your village and not know where you're going to put the people is sheer lunacy lot so it's a lottery there are the lucky ones who will be helped and there are the less lucky ones who won't be another example that shows that when faced with the

effects of climate change humanity is helpless if the experts are right fairborne will one day be lost to the sea that day is still a long way off and that makes it hard for us to grasp that's another reason why people don't act how do you see your future your future self in 10 20 30 years it doesn't look too bad the interesting thing is that you can see how you're changing so you can relate to it the question now is what's happening in your brain do you have an emotional connection to this person that's

the interesting part that means I can see myself now as I might look in 20 years but I still have no feeling at all for what that actually means that's it do you have a sense of yourself or who is this person you see here he's completely alien to me that's exactly my point we've demonstrated what happens in the brain when we imagine the present and the future this is a view of the brain from below this is the back of the head this is the frontal area when you think about your present as you're

standing here next to me your brain creates a image of yourself you have a sense of who you are when you imagine being here in a week a month a year that changes this fruital activity decreases the brain creates an idea of the future but you're a stranger in that future this area is much less active your future self is a stranger to you so that means that because my future self is a stranger I'm not affected by something that will happen in the future me 20 years time is a complete stranger to my brain

that's why it's so easy to live without thinking about the future it can't defend itself and that's a problem when it comes to creating long-term change simp long-term changes are exactly what the student movement Fridays for future is fighting for [Music] they want the world to act now to give young people a future worth living demonstrated in front of the Swedish parliament in Stockholm for more climate protection soon became the global protest movement Fridays for future people took to the streets in more than 200 cities in Germany today calling for more action on climate change

Friday Friday spokes person CLA Deo is leading the demonstration my here's a picture of the demonstration and here's the stage for it are we going to get it so what do we want what year was that that was 2021 Friday for Fridays for future has become normal for many it's our job to keep creating new momentum and saying hey there's a lot of us and a lot of people behind us and listen to us but have groups that take a tougher stance like last generation made Fridays for future [Music] redundant I believe we can learn

a lot from the anti-nuclear movement in Germany we can apply some of its lessons such as the interaction between a more moderate branch of the movement and a more offensive or militant branch that's an important precondition that they don't break apart but at least roughly agree and coordinate they can exist together side by side our main aim is to bring people together personally I think it's good that other organizations get more attention but we still manage to bring people together and show hey there's a lot of across Society friendly peaceful demonstration inevitably fizzle out they

can't keep getting bigger the peak was 1.4 million demonstrators in Germany then after that before the pandemic the numbers dropped [Music] significantly 75% of Germans say that the Fridays for future protest have had little or no impact on them asked about the influence of Fridays for future on their attitude towards climate change 4% answered very strong 19% strong 35% less strong and 40% not at all the important thing is to see the fight against the climate crisis as a marathon we've got to keep at it the climate activists say everything should already have been done

with other issues in the past and I'd even include the anti-nuclear movement there wasn't the same urgency people of course wanted to get rid of nuclear power plants as fast as possible but there weren't any tipping points in two three or five years this is a challenge for which there's no solution no Silver Bullet Fridays for future got the ball rolling we managed to get climate protection laws passed we made them happen in the first place the Constitutional Court ruled on climate action there are lots of examples of the climate movement bringing about change a

victory for the climate activists their constitutional lawsuit was successful the climate protection act is partially unconstitutional and must be amended [Music] in their quest to change popular opinion CLA dueno and mojib Latif have been inspired by one of History's Greatest natural scientists Alexander Von Holt gathered data from around the globe nearly two centuries ago he was even the first to observe man-made climate change in [Music] Venezuela he clearly refers in his journals to the fact that all the smoke and fumes coming out of industrial chimneys would change the atmosphere and predicts that this will have

an impact we haven't actually learned anything we just carry on destroying the forests we destroy the environment in all sorts of ways and somehow we can't convince people to stop scientists are expanding on Holt's work at Berlin's botanic garden researchers Yona Zimmerman has collected and counted tiny diatoms in the Arctic Ocean which are crucial for the entire Arctic ecosystem the more datom there are the healthier the water but simmerman has documented their [Music] decline D atoms lived on the underside of ice they're a food source for Krill the Crustaceans that whales and Penguins feed on

but now that the Glaciers are retreating there L Krill unless Krill is leading to fewer whales nowhere is climate change more evident than in the Arctic mojib Latif visited the region back in [Music] 2010 I wanted to see for myself what was happening in the Arctic I knew from my research that major Chang were occurring but it's not the same as actually seeing it especially the glassiers the vast loss of ice is breathtaking [Music] [Music] in climatological terms the ocean has various functions on the one hand it absorbs heat which slows down global warming but

on the other it also absorbs carbon dioxide which humans released into the atmosphere this is both a blessing and a curse it's slowing down global warming but the water is becoming acidic and marine organisms are suffering as a result me number s you're dropping [Music] off we're heading to the mesocosms which are kind of huge test tubes that allow us to examine under realistic conditions what increased levels of CO2 are doing to [Music] organisms we don't know exactly how the ecosystems react to acidification we're very excited to find out if long-term experiments produce the same

results as the short-term ones we learned a lot from these experiments we can now develop computer models to project changes that will occur as a result of carbon uptake we're now able to predict what will happen if we carry on as usual we've all been witnessing these dramatic developments for decades including the automotive industry but back in the early 1990s Mercedes-Benz still described its latest super luxury S-Class as environmentally friendly we at Mercedes-Benz are proud to be setting new standards and pioneering new environmental Technologies with our new S-class [Music] to many it was a clear-cut

case of greenwashing the new Mercedes-Benz S-class was decried by environmental experts the S-Class weighs around 2.2 times more than an average conventional car the manufacturing process produces about 52 tons of waste which is 2.2 times more than with an average car and amounts to about as much waste as two people in Germany produce in their entire lives we advertise our green credentials because we believe that we are making a great contribution and will continue to do so in the future take the Mercedes S-Class this really is scandalous in a country like ours these cars are

so heavy the energy cost of powering them is apping we haven't made any progress in the transportation sector especially with Automotive traffic cars have become bigger and bigger and in cities where space is in short supply SUVs are squeezing out everything else [Music] the largest S-Class ever made people were annoyed because it was so wide it couldn't fit on car trains and this is one of the smallest SUVs on the market the best selling SUV in Germany is the t-rock if you do some research you'll Discover it weighs about 1300 kilos 1500 kilos even that's

the same as a 1980s S-Class it's just as big if you look at them like this Slimmer but 10 cm taller and this car has worse aerodynamics than this one if you add up how many SUVs are sold in Germany and how much they weigh compared to normal cars we're talking an additional 750 million tons per year or half a million VW golfs what's so great about it what people like is that it's taller almost 40% of cars in Germany are SUVs and basically on the road you're elevated but you can no longer see anyone

else you can't see children imagine that a mother's at the wheel and Hears A Child you can't see it you could have nine children in a row and only the ninth is visible there's a heated discussion in America there are even studies about child fatalities caused because drivers can't see when moving around when driving normally 7,000 accidents and 200 deaths a year because people don't see these children in an SUV you sit higher than in a normal vehicle and that gives people a sense of security and no doubt also of [Music] superiority I'm having Deja

Vu when you compare the two cars you can see we haven't made any progress in terms of Environmental Protection and resource conservation and that's just not okay mention the SUVs f people who drive SUVs believe they've made an environmentally friendly choice because they've been manipulated into thinking that you get into your SUV you think wow it's a small car I'm doing something good for the environment I feel very comfortable of course you do it's like an S-Class sass maximum luxury with a clear conscience that's the Mercedes promise but environmentalists argue that the best choice is

no cars at all but wanting more is an instinct that's deeply anchored in our brains that's because the brain isn't set up for less but for more for maximization what happens when we get more than we expected dopamine is released in the brain's happiness Center and we experience a kick a rush something positive and pleasurable this maximizing is built into a brain experience it as a positive feeling the opposite is experienced as dumb so that means climate protection needs to be fun nobody saves the world because it's the ethical thing to do save the world

if you have a clear benefit right now and it makes sense in the long run for example if I want to buy organic it has to be because that's cool now not because it saves the world in 30 years time there has to be an immediate benefit then people will change their behavior is that the problem with the energy transition that people feel they're being burdened and because they think Renewables are costing them more they aren't going along with it affordability would be leverage instead we try to solve problems in even more complicated ways and

tell people to be ethical we're completely unaware of the basics of human thinking we want to maximize what we have the trick now should be to combine this with a narrative about sustainability and sustainable products only then will we get somewhere climate researcher mojib Latif and most of his colleagues have been telling the world about global warming for decades but to no avail now young people are trying to stop climate change with various forms of protest but it seems that most most of us will only act if we can really see the benefits of protecting

the environment but if we don't there will be no way of preventing climate catastrophe [Music] [Music]