A crisis of spirit

Amid all the talk of crisis surrounding climate change, it seems to me that there is also a crisis of human spirit.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not an evangelical Christian or a Gaia-worshipping New Age mystic, rather a confirmed agnostic. But it seems to me that the feeding -frenzy of consumption indulged in by a significant proportion of the population of the Western World is part of a moral vacuum that is pervading our lives. People are consuming without thought of the consequences.

Twenty years ago, a holiday flight was unusual or special. Now many families regard an annual flight to the sun as normal, their right, and a reward for hard work. Yesterday's luxury becomes today's necessity. I know of quite normal families in the UK who have three foreign holidays a year in search of sun or snow. There is simply no way that the world's climate can afford one flight a year per family, let alone two, three or more.

Similarly with choice of cars. Four-wheel drive cars have become increasingly popular, in spite of their very high consumption of fuel. Very few if any people actually need a 4x4. They are a status symbol for people unaware of the real cost of their choice.

Likewise with our choice of luxury goods. We are consuming far more than we need, pampering our whims and desires, spending money without considering the needs of the developing world, spending far more on pets or cosmetic surgery than we give to those in need. Notions of restraint, self-sacrifice or thrift have become deeply unfashionable, leaving much of the Western world wallowing in excessive and unnecessary consumption.

Our cheap flights, inefficient cars and excessive consumption will cause untold misery for future generations as the climate changes, bringing droughts, storms, crop failures and rising sea levels.

It is as though we have lost all sense of moral direction, which is why I would argue that the climate crisis runs in parallel to a spiritual crisis, not in a deeply religious sense, but rather that many people seem to be living in a moral vacuum, obsessed with their rights, with no sense of their responsibilities, where their religion is the pursuit of pleasure, a hedonistic orgy of consumption.

Gandhi wisely pointed out that "The Earth has enough for everyone's need, but not for everyone's greed." It is as though there is an inverse relation between wealth and spirituality. The more wealth the less soul.

Those seeking to lead us away from the brink of climate catastrophe need to lead by example, holidaying in the UK, avoiding flights and big cars, reducing their consumption. Only when people see our political leaders and celebrities changing their ways will excessive consumption be seen for the folly it is. Self-sacrifice, if taken together, will give us a renewed sense of solidarity and community, and may lead to a salvation of the world's climate, as well as of our spirit.

By John Pearce, author of "The Little Green Book".