Many dominant approaches to environmental protection and sustainability focus on economic, regulatory and technological innovation, while the importance of interventions into mindsets and culture tend to be neglected. This evidence review, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, finds that self-identity is strongly linked to environmental quality, with the potential for society to be trapped in vicious cycles. It raises challenging ethical governance questions around stewardship of self-identity, with both a hands-off and highly interventionist approach equally problematic.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542519622002170

Oliver, T.H., Doherty, B., Dornelles, A., Gilbert, N., Greenwell, M.P., Harrison, L.J. et al. (2022). A safe and just operating space for human identity: a systems perspective. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6, e919-e927.