Delayed Gratification may Hurt Climate Change: Study

A recent study shows that delayed gratifications may damage climate change cooperation.

"People are often self-interested, so when it comes to investing in a cooperative dilemma like climate change, rewards that benefit our offspring - or even our future self - may not motivate us to act," Jennifer Jacquet, a clinical assistant professor at New York University's Environmental Studies Program said, via a press release, who conducted the research while a postdoctoral fellow working with Math Prof. Christoph Hauert at the University of British Columbia. "Since no one person can affect climate change alone, we designed the first experiment to gauge whether group dynamics would encourage people to cooperate towards a better future."

Researchers from the University of British Columbia and the Max Plank Institute in Germany gave 40 Euros each to invest, as a group of six, towards climate change actions. If participants cooperated in a pool together with 120 Euros for climate change, returns on their investment showed in the form of 45 additional Euros that were promised one day later, seven weeks later or invested in planting oak trees that could potentially lead to climate benefits down the road. Although many individuals invested in the long-term investment design in order to stimulate benefits for future generations, none of the groups achieved their target.

"We learned from this experiment that even groups gravitate towards instant gratification," Hauert said, via the release, an expert in game theory, the study of strategic decision-making.

They believe that international negotiations can help mitigate climate change and are unlikely to succeed if individual countries' short-term gains are not taken into consideration.

More information regarding this study can be found via the journal Nature Climate Change.