Conclusion

By taking action to protect the environment, groups and individuals directly confront ingrained values and behaviours of self-interest, apathy and greed. People do not take kindly to being told that driving a car is polluting when it is what gets them to work, which pays the bills, which feeds the children. However, there are other values that environmental groups and individuals can appeal to, for example, the concept of intergenerational equity to ensure our children inherit a healthy environment.

A group’s strengths in taking action include the use of both logical and lateral thinking, respect for the goals of the group and strategic use of the eight elements outlined at the beginning of this chapter, including legal and parliamentary tools. Governments and corporations are capable of change and it is the people who change them.