WE know that if we want to leave our environment and our world in a good state for the future we have to change the way we do things. But what about the old saying that you can’t change human nature? Does this mean that we are stuck with our present environment-damaging lifestyles?

I don’t believe we are. It is true that there are many aspects of human nature that don’t change, but behaviour does change over time. Many people like to keep up with the latest fashion, in clothes, food and much else. That means change.

What motivates people and societies to change? It helps if they can see some advantage for themselves or, at least, be persuaded that there are good reasons. Another strong motivating force is the desire to follow the fashion or to copy people whom we admire.

Values also change over time. We now look back with incomprehension at the way that people used to take slavery for granted. We must expect that future generations will be similarly baffled at our profligate and thoughtless use of fossil fuels and other irreplaceable resources.

Humans are immensely adaptable. They are to be found in cold climates and hot, in dry climates and wet. Some live on diets that are almost entirely animal, others on diets that are entirely vegetable.

Then again, human nature is full of contradictions. We are competitors and cooperators, conformists and rebels, self-centred and altruistic. We may seek immediate gratification, or we may take time to do what we know is right. We have a huge range of choices, all of which may be consistent with the complexity of human nature.

All in all, humans are quite capable of changing their behaviour so as to live with the future in mind. If they want to.

Henry Haslam is the author of ‘The Earth and Us’.