Katharine Hayhoe says our climate theory of change was always broken - Trellis
trellis.net
For two decades, corporate climate strategy bet that disasters would finally force action — Katharine Hayhoe now says that assumption was broken from the start.
Theory of ChangeProspect TheoryBehavioral Change TheoryInstitutional Inertia
Theory Briefing
- Hayhoe argues the core belief driving corporate climate strategy — that extreme weather would eventually compel action — was always a flawed foundation.
- Two decades of wildfires, floods, and disasters have not produced the corporate pivot the theory predicted, challenging the entire framework.
- The article raises whether fear-based information alone can shift entrenched organizational behavior, or whether a different lever is needed.
- Hayhoe's critique forces a rethink of how businesses justify climate investment and what actually motivates durable change.