• Listen to this segment with Monty Hempel

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If you Google the words ‘climate change’ this is the kind of dire headline that might pop up: “Climate Change will be catastrophic for mankind after study reveals methane leaking from the Arctic Ocean.”

While you might think that a fear inducing title like this would motivate more people to change their behavior and at least live a greener life-style or engage in political protest, researchers are finding that simply knowing that change needs to happen is not enough.

A new report by the Worldwatch Institute titled ‘State of the World 2014: Governing for Sustainibility’ finds among other things, that the extent of a person’s eco-literacy or level of knowledge about the environmental crisis, does not necessarily determine their desire to take action to prevent environmental disaster.

Environmental education needs to go beyond mere scientific understanding of climate change to encompass broader issues of ethics, culture and politics. In other words, “Knowledge is Not Enough” which is the title of one of the sections in the report.

GUEST: Monty Hempel is Professor of Environmental Science at University of Redlands. He is the author of the chapter “Ecoliteracy: Knowledge Is Not Enough” in the Worldwatch Institute’s 2014 report Governing for Sustainibility.

Click here to find out how you can obtain a copy of the report.