How Gratitude can Solve the Climate Crisis

The battle of Climate Change has morphed from a humanitarian crisis to a political, economic, and personal battle. Solving climate change has now become a reason to fight each other, instead of becoming a battle we all fight together. The line between positive change and ignorance is blurred, and I believe it can be clearly drawn - it starts with gratitude and healing. Proposed Climate Change solutions are overburdened with tasks and financial responsibilities, creating a narrative of impossible change. It seems we must create more - more solar panels, more homes, more buses - as a solution. Why are we promoting consumption while trying to reduce waste? Why are we creating more while trying to reduce our impact? We can’t. Maybe what we truly need is to reinvent our own wheel and redefine our concept of success. In this paper, I will explore how the economic foundations of our nation have ultimately led to its instability, through reviewing worldwide economic habits and identifying main contributors to Global Warming. After analyzing economic case studies and gratitude as a key component of happiness, I additionally propose the most equitable solution for long-term sustainability - an economic transition to Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH). The world has become polluted with the mindset of consumption, and owning more has become a definition of success - but to solve this crisis, we cannot have both. Our current use of Gross Domestic Product to measure a nation’s economic success is now what defines our own individual success, instead of our highest values. Some economists are trying to rewrite this definition - what about Gross Domestic Happiness? It is not an impossible task. Bhutan has made this shift and has seen significant growth across multiple sectors - can we learn from their example? Overconsumption is our problem, and our foundations have romanticized it, creating an endless cycle of consumerism. This narrative must change. The research will explain how overconsumption is our biggest problem when facing climate change, and how Gross Domestic Happiness is the key to a flourishing society. To show the efficacy of GDH, my research highlights how the positive impacts of gratitude on happiness will explain how the concepts of gratitude easily pave a path for city planners. Though it seems impossible for gratitude to heal our ecosystems, it will highlight impactful solutions and create systemic change.