1/ The human factor is the human contribution to an event. Factors (emotions, cognitive biases, memory, social status, etc…) play a role in the evolution of our behaviors. Observing and analysing them allows us to better understand our resistance to change in the face of ecologic and societal transitions.

2/ There is a great disconnect with the natural world around us, perhaps partly due to the fact that more than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas and that individuals spend an average of 6 hours and 40 minutes looking at screens every day. And yet, 53% of people worldwide are more worried about climate change now than they were a year earlier (source : People’s Climate Vote 2024). 65% of households surveyed across nine countries indicate that they are willing to make personal compromises to their lifestyles for the benefit of the environment. However, 41% of respondents report economic concerns as very important and 63% of respondents agreed that environmental policies should not impose extra money (source : OECD’s third EPIC Survey).

3/ Each of us has our own cognitive biases and factors that prevent us from undertaking. Understanding them allows us to adapt accordingly and act on the environmental issues we face. One of the main problems in moving to ecological action is the “prisoner’s dilemma”. Indeed, in some cases, I do not necessarily have an interest in acting (because I consider “making an effort”) personally, but I do have an interest in others around me acting/implementing environmental standards as their actions will benefit me indirectly. Finally, to make people want to act, we must rely on a social dynamic specific to humans, and play on collective psychology.

4/ Rethinking our relationship to the world becomes urgent in order to respond to the multiple ecological challenges. This means refocusing on sharing and understanding the other to foster solidarity and resilience, and thus better understand the present and the future.

“We need to rethink the way we make the world,” says Romain Caillet, a professor at universities (Grenoble Alpes University) and multidisciplinary researcher. “To make the world is [...] to take an integral part in the fabric of life, which we will defend all the better as we know and love it”