Summarizing Sustainability Issues and Research Approaches

Abstract

Achieving ecological sustainability is the most crucial task facing humanity in the coming decades. If we do not reduce human beings’ detrimental impacts on the Earth to a sustainable level, the life-giving resources of the Earth will continue to degrade, and eventually the Earth may become unlivable for humans and countless other species. This chapter has four goals: First, to summarize the important recurring themes about sustainability from the preceding chapters; second, to highlight some of the fruitful ways by which the goal of sustainability can be approached; third, to point out roles that psychology can play in this process; and fourth, to list some of the needed types of research that psychologists can contribute toward reaching sustainable patterns of living.