**7.4. About "mental enemies"**

nature. For instance, the inherent value of every species was the basic motivation for the philosopher Arne Næss in his fight for nature preservation. Fortunately, the Convention on

Some writers stress the importance of listing "non-sustainable activities". This is a constructive approach. In this connection, the term "environmental crime", or "ecological crime", has been used. Presumably, business leaders would not be happy to have this label attached to their

Development of well-founded attitudes is a personal process for each of us. A "ripe" attitude is clear and conscious, and gives us motivation. We must be able to explain our attitude, and to defend it in discussions. In environmental debates, disagreements are often due to different attitudes. If people are unwilling or unable to explain the fundament of their attitudes, debates may become foggy and not very constructive. For instance, a person may find loss of species to be unproblematic, due to lack of biological knowledge. There are people who focus mainly on the "plate biodiversity", which are species we can eat or otherwise use in a practical way. Even among biologists, there have been discussions about "ecologically redundant species", which are species that could be removed without any ecological harm. However, this is a dangerous discussion, because we have several times discovered that "anonymous" species may have key functions in nature. One example is the mycorrhizal fungi which makes it possible to have forests on northern latitudes. In such discussions, the attitude expressed by

Concerning the danger of climate change, groups of "climate sceptics" are common. They do not find it sufficiently proven that climate change is due to human activity. Several of them find it wrong to use massive resources to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, some of them accept applying the precautionary principle; accepting that they might be wrong. For them, to act is an insurance for the future; we insure our houses even though the chance of it

People who love nature are strongly motivated to defend it. However, attitudes signalizing indifference to nature qualities are not uncommon. We see this attitude practised all over the

Finally, political leadership is crucial. If political leaders do not act, even engaged people may loose motivation and think that perhaps problems are not so serious after all – since political leaders do not take them seriously. This creates a negative spiral, while the aim should be that people and politicians support each other in a positive spiral, making the necessary possible.

While a concensus about concepts is obviously important, and clarifications of each other's attitudes can be crucial in environmental debates, why should we include rhetoric as a premise for success? The answer is that we are short of time. Environmental problems increase faster

world, and there are many companies which depend upon destroying nature.

Biological Diversity urges us to protect all species.

the "precautionary principle" becomes important.

activity.

**7.2. About attitudes**

150 Environmental Change and Sustainability

burning down is little.

**7.3. About rhetoric**

As shown in Jared Diamond's book [2], the human brain is clever in suppressing or denying threats. The six more or less unconscious mechanisms he refers to are our "mental enemies" and represent a serious halting against sustainability. Therefore, we have to identify them and avoid them. The case of group psychology may deserve special attention. Political leaders often rely heavily on advisory groups, since their advice is supposed to be strengthened by contri‐ bution from people with different backgrounds. However, valuable opinions from the best person may be drowned by group psychology, due to stress, loyalty and a common wish about concensus. President Kennedy's dangerous experience in the Bay of Pigs crisis led him to decide that on later occasions, his advisors should think critically and independently before the group concluded. This is an invaluable "take-home-message" also for today's political leaders.
