Paper short abstract:

Trust in society is a crucial factor in considering human activities in the Anthropocene but hardly studied in development policies and evaluations. The relation between environmental concerns and trust is examined in developed nations taking on greater responsibility for environmental disruption.

Paper long abstract:

The theme of development studies has evolved over time, from economic growth, social development and environment protection. Including all the three, SDGs is the manifestation of addressing development in a holistic manner. And yet, one crucial factor is missing in considering human activities in the Anthropocene – trust in society. Trust is a mirror image of the quality of society but hardly studied in development policies and evaluations.

The engagement with environmental preservation is assumed to be driven by trust in society, whereas undermined by distrust in society caused typically by human vice such as cheating, bribery and corruption. It would also move the other way around (i.e. trust is cultivated by the engagement whereas subverted by the breach). Trust and environmental protection would thus go hand in hand together. In this context, where trust is high, social movements such as protests and boycotts can be expected in case an act of destruction in the environment is observed by particular corporates or individuals; where trust is low, such destruction is ignored or even accelerated in pursuit of self-interest.

This assumption is examined by analysing the relation between indicators on environmental burdens (e.g. CO2 emission per capita, material footprint per capita) and those on trust (e.g. interpersonal trust, institutional trust and relevant factors) on a national level with a focus on developed countries taking on greater responsibility for environmental disruption, by means of secondary data available in international institutions (e.g. UN, OECD).