Psychology and climate change: collective solutions to a global problem

On 23 September 2010, in his Joint British Academy/British Psychological Society Lecture, Professor David Uzzell argued that behaviour-change approaches to climate change need to take account of the societal context that gives rise to the values and attitudes that drive our behaviours. As consumers, our preferences and actions – and as a consequence our greenhouse gas emissions and the impact we have on the environment – are shaped by the products and oppor tunities we are offered, which create new desires and preferences. In the following extract, Professor Uzzell looks at the societal forces influencing our practices and identities as workers