Can climate action be driven by humanity and ethics?

An exploratory study of the motivations of Peru’s most influential climate leaders

by Ximena Gómez Lavi

A missing piece for climate action

The Latin America region faces considerable susceptibility to climate change, with more than half of its population residing in countries characterized by high or extreme climate vulnerability (Carey-Webb, 2020; Cardenas et al., 2021), experiencing mega-droughts, intense rainfall, heatwaves, and glacier melt (WMO, 2022). Specifically, Peru exhibits seven of the nine primary factors that render a region highly susceptible to climate change risks, as outlined by the Peruvian Ministry of Environment (2016). Despite all this, progress on climate adaptation is slowing on all fronts when it should be accelerating, according to a United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Adaptation Gap report (2023), a failure that has massive implications for losses and damages, particularly for the most vulnerable. This perspective also applies to Peru, where the escalating effects of climate change persist, impacting the economy and society.

Even when other factors favor climate action, weak or poor leadership can discourage ordinary citizens. Climate leaders play a key role in driving climate action because of their ability to motivate change among their followers (García-Gibson, 2023).

Exploring their motivations in Peru

The research I carried out thanks to the Economy of Francesco Academy aimed to explore the main ethical directions guiding the decision-making processes of Peruvian climate leaders. The research applied a two-phase exploratory design, combining a qualitative grounded theory approach via semi-structured interviews with a subsequent quantitative cross-sectional survey.

What did we learn? A variety of values coexisting with frustration

It became clear to me that there isn’t just one type of climate leader in Peru, although the most influential ones share several characteristics. The research found that ethical orientations are driven by both social and personal values. Among social values, sustainable development was the most prominent value among leaders, correlating strongly with the value of equity. Regarding personal values, learning, generating impact, and the opportunity to transcend were the core motivations that drove leaders to advance climate action. Other complementary values identified were coherence and a sense of belonging, values that contributed to shape effective leadership. Likewise, the Amazon ecosystem emerged as a key driver of leaders’ motivation to engage with climate action, whereas political instability and a weak shared vision acted as demotivating factors, resulting in fragmented efforts.

Something that caught my attention in the results was that the leaders interviewed showed a high degree of frustration and displeasure at the lack of concrete progress in combating climate change beyond rhetoric, some of them with careers spanning more than one or two decades without seeing significant progress. Nevertheless, they expressed hope in future generations and emphasized the importance of early ethical formation.

It’s worth mentioning that a challenge for the research was ensuring that the data collection methods were sufficiently representative and had the broadest possible reach at the national level. This was mainly due to limited connectivity in some areas of the country, where there is no shortage of climate leaders but a lack of digital access. Therefore, I decided to narrow the scope of the study to urban climate leaders.

Implications for climate action? Intergenerational integrity and greater attention to mental health

An important policy implication is the prioritization of policy instruments that systematically promote the integrity of public officials and penalize corrupt practices, with particular attention to territories with the greatest potential to combat climate change, such as the Amazon region. Furthermore, the findings highlight the importance of local participatory processes to define what a «low-carbon» territory looks like for communities, discussing which changes they are willing to embrace and what vision should guide the future of their locality, integrating the human dimension rather than focusing solely on technical considerations. This local-level alignment enables collective efforts to build shared outcomes, rather than becoming fragmented.

Other implications for communities include investigating how to care for the mental health of climate leaders in a society where their role may be perceived as running counter to the interests of the status quo. Furthermore, it is crucial to investigate how to more effectively cultivate integrity in future generations so that it endures into adulthood, when they will have to make decisions for the common good in support of climate goals and sustainable development within their spheres of influence. Can sustainable development be achieved without sustainable integrity?

A personal reflection

This research project was an opportunity for me to explore a new line of research that was of great interest for me. While my previous research also addressed climate change, it had a more technical and operational focus. However, this approach often meant neglecting the more human and personal aspects of it, which is why in recent years I decided to pursue a master’s degree in development studies with this research topic.

I have learned that this is a still relatively unexplored topic that deserves greater depth in order to incorporate this more human dimension into the science of climate change. I’ve learned that it’s a key element that allows for a more complex overview and a more comprehensive analysis for generating sustainable, long-term change. Results—which have integrated issues of integrity, ethics, human values, virtues, and even the role of different generations in achieving the desired climate goals—have confirmed for me that this is a relevant topic worthy of further exploration.

Given that this is a topic that remains insufficiently addressed and visible despite its relevance, conducting this study would have been far more challenging and discouraging without the support of EoF Academy. This support not only made it possible to finance the study, but also provided the opportunity to be part of a community of scholars who share a holistic and human-centered vision of sustainable development.

Sparking new ideas

I hope this research inspires greater curiosity and interest in bringing the human dimension more fully into climate change research and practice, particularly by deepening our understanding of the role that ethics can play in advancing both global and local climate ambitions.

References

Ximena Gómez Lavi

Economy of Francesco Academy Research fellow for 2023-2026
Ximena is an Environmental Engineer specialized in climate change mitigation. She has a Ms degree in Economics and in Development Studies. She has over a decade of experience in carbon markets, GHG accounting, and international climate and development programming. She has extensive expertise in the development and assessment of carbon credit projects and compliance with leading international certification standards, including Verra, Gold Standard, Puro.Earth and the Clean Development Mechanism. Her technical background includes supporting carbon market readiness, certification processes, and Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems across a range of climate mitigation initiatives. Ximena has extensive experience implementing community-based climate projects with vulnerable rural communities across Latin America. Her work spans nature-based solutions, regenerative agriculture, peatland conservation, and circular economy initiatives, including technical roles with the Center for International Forestry Research and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
LinkedIn and Orcid profile