Unit 6:C- Environmental Leadership and Individual’s influence on Environmental Policy.

 Presentation Link- ( slide no. 15 onwards)

LEADERSHIP

When we talk about leadership, surprisingly, many people first think of political, financial or religious leaders, but let me highlight that leaders are absolutely critical in all fields.

 Leadership doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all definition; we all have our own ideas about what it means to be a good leader and how to build up our strategy. 

 Hundreds of famous and successful leaders brought up their own definitions about leadership and all are good ones with their specific inspiration, motivation and power.

 Environmental professionals will concur that environmental leadership has to support all kinds of environmentally action-oriented movements to protect land, aquatic systems, fauna, flora etc., and therefore the environmental leaders have to make the socioeconomic system more harmonious with the environment through ecologically clean technologies, eco-products and environmentally-friendly services.

So, what is environmental leadership and who are the environmental leaders?

 Environmental leaders should also raise the environmental awareness of the public by spreading and supporting the implementation of environmental education programs and the application of environmental laws. 

 Consequently, the more the population is informed, the less pollution and environmental damages we will have.

Those who -

• Care about the place we live and serve as an example 
• Preach that everybody take care of the place he/she lives. 
• Make responsible decisions to maintain a balanced and healthy environment 
• Prevent any kind of obvious risk using the precautionary principle to guide decisions 
• Save the environment, because it is our home regardless of the continent, country, city, or village we live in.

What should INDIVIDUAL’S do for that?

 An effective environmental leader is always knowledgeable of and prioritizes current top environmental issues, discusses and analyses them and exchanges ideas with colleagues, makes healthy decisions and implements the decisions in order to achieve a solution to a problem. Hence, let’s conclude that teamwork stimulates much better results, especially, if the solutions are global.

 In our case, in environmental leadership, we really do have the common vision: to improve the current state of the environment and the entire world’s inhabitants should be the team members. Environmental problems have to be decreased with the support of each of us, to be as active as we can. 

 To quote the American businessman Ross Perot, “The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty, the activist is the man who cleans up the river”.

INDIVIDUAL INFLUENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY  

There are a lot of “hands in the pot” when it comes to public and environmental policy decisions. Laws are influenced by everything from economic conditions to lobbying and political activity. Environmental policy can also be influenced by…YOU.

Here’s how INDIVIDUAL’S can bring about important change: 

 Make Your Voice Heard.  

Many Environmental Protection Agency offers many support programs for state and local governments. Your local policymakers can put in place laws that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, cut air pollution, increase recycling, and everything in between. But they need to know that these values are important to you. Write to your elected representatives!

 Help Change Public Opinion.  

Public opinion and priorities have major influence on governmental policy over time. If there is an environmental cause that you’re particularly passionate about, chances are, there’s an organization or business association that’s working on it. If not, well, why not start one? Get involved through elections, citizen rallies and communication campaigns to reach elected decision makers.

 Lead By Example – Live What You Preach! 

A recent study by Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability found that pro-environmental behaviors like recycling and water conservation could influence pro-environmental values. The idea is that repeated behavior can become second nature and a part of a larger value system. If your community creates the demand for, say, recycling programs (and contacts your local representatives about the need!), then you can affect real change