Not evolved to save the planet, yet capable to promote pro-environmental action leveraging human nature.

Anthropogenic environmental issues, from global warming to pollution, biodiversity loss, and natural resources depletion, require immediate action. Yet, inaction remains pervasive, and pro-environmental psychological interventions have, at best, yielded modest, short-lived effects. In this article, we argue that the development of more effective interventions could be aided by more nuanced discussion around two pervasive misguided assumptions: That human nature is inherently environmentally friendly, thus naturally inclined toward sustainability unless distorted by modern socioeconomic systems; on the other hand, that human nature is inherently destructive, posing a fundamental barrier to environmental action. We critically examine these presuppositions, their foundations, as well as their pro- and counterarguments, and argue that both are oversimplifications which overlook the current understanding on biological, evolutionary and behavioral sciences, disregarding its contextual nature. Many native populations have overexploited their resources, yet modern evolutionary psychology does not support the notion that human nature would be inherently unfit for environmental action. Evolved behavioral tendencies interact with socioeconomic environments which can lead to the relational properties of environmental destruction as well as to protection. Their high behavioral variability, interactivity, calibration, flexibility, plasticity, and co-optability enable a wide range of sustainable actions. Rather than seeing biological and evolutionary aspects as inherently pessimistic or optimistic