Three Spheres of Transformation to meet the 1.5°C target

Research related to adaptation and mitigation pathways leading to the fulfilment of the 1.5 degrees C goal of the Paris Agreement has always been focused on the managerial and technical challenges to be faced. These carbon roadmaps represent plausible storylines which private or public entities and policy makers can adopt in order to achieve the well needed shift in the carbon emission curve and to reach net zero by 2050 (O’Brien 2018).

However, O'Brien argues that in order for such a long-term and broad scale of transformation to happen, there must be a focus on the social transition as well, which is fundamental in creating a synergetic shift in all sectors (O’Brien 2018). It is important to analyse the social factor into the equation of sustainable adaptation in order to recognize unconscious past dependencies or beliefs which might cloud or bias the technical results of mathematical models (Wright 2010).

Given the influence that paradigms and mindsets might have on a social transformation, it is important to adopt an heuristic approach in sustainability which integrates multiple spheres, or aspects, needed for the realization of the 1.5 degrees C outcome which do not necessarily represent academic or research pillars of the pathway but rather procedural necessities of change: these are practical, political and personal (O’Brien 2018).

Transformation in the practical sphere represents the tangible scientific adaptation and mitigation policies which are easily traceable through concrete numbers or other evidence (O’Brien 2018).

The political sphere incorporates all those systems and structures which would regulate, incentivize or constrain the practical sphere processes (O’Brien 2018).

The personal sphere represents those individual or collective paradigms, mindsets and mechanisms which allow the people to perceive the change in one or another subjective perspective (O’Brien 2018).

"The practical sphere is figuratively centered at the core of transformation processes, as technical and behavioural changes tend to produce outcomes and impacts that can be readily measured, […] the personal sphere is represented as the outermost because it does have a pervasive, often subconscious impact; […] he political sphere is located between the practical and personal spheres because it plays a central role in moderating and maintaining the structures and systems of society" (O’Brien 2018).


Meadows argues that it is fundamental for individuals and societies to leverage on their personal sphere of transformation, thus focalizing on the subconscious understanding of societal structures and parameters in order to transcend conventions and create a more open minded approach towards what the most effective pathway is (Meadows 1999).

However, this transformation might lead to a predominant subjective view or values which imposes itself as the object of change (O’Brien 2018).

Therefore, in order to achieve the most equitable and sustainable change it is imperative that all three spheres eventually are considered in order to modify the individual and collective mindset towards being seen as agents of change and not anymore objects of that change (Meadows 1999).

In such way, there would exist no imposition of one or the other's worldview by shifting the behavioural aspects of individuals and groups, but better the creation of a social consciousness and an environment which cultivates independent systemic transformations allowing change to happen spontaneously based on (O’Brien 2018).


References:

O’Brien, K. (2018), Is the 1.5°C target possible? Exploring the three spheres of transformation, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 31

Wright, E.O. (2010), Envisioning Real Utopias. Verso 

Meadows, D.H. (1999), Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System. 




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