As part of a forthcoming environmental leadership handbook, Susanne Moser examines the challenges that future environmental leaders will encounter and how these individuals can serve as models to the public.
Moser also describes a number of the crises that loom on the horizon in the event that we fail to successfully address climate change.
Key takeaways from the study:
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Future environmental leaders will require strong psychological, social and political skills to deal with the human crises that will come with the more difficult environmental challenges to come.
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Mature leaders will face the whole truth of climate change’s impacts and accept that “better tomorrows” may not come.
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Grieving about environmental losses together, rather than individually, can be more healing and motivating.
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Framing the transition to the future environmental reality will help provide a roadmap for people and will carry forward persistence, hope and a commitment to moral action.
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Leaders will have to help those who are in crisis cope in order to avoid people falling back into resistance, defensiveness and placing blame. Drawing on faith may be a useful strategy.
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Numerous paradoxes exist among climate issues, but leaders can harness the tension between them in order to deal with them effectively.
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Future leaders need to demand accountability for everyone’s role in previous unsustainability, as well as accord amnesty to those having difficulty living with their role.
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Peaceful conflict resolution and promoting non-violence will become increasingly important – and difficult – as frustrations and fears rise.
Photo via (cc) Flickr user USACEpublicaffairs
