A survey conducted in 2019 found that 71% of Canadians believe the country needs to take the lead globally in the fight against climate change, and 76% believe the country needs to be doing more on the issue as a whole. But you probably didn’t need to hear the statistics to back up the statement “Canadians care about the climate.” It is evident in small ways, such as more restaurants offering plant-based alternatives, the ubiquity of chic reusable coffee cups and peoples’ horror at unnecessary plastic and use of straws. It is seen in the words “sustainably sourced” being used to justify a producer charging more while giving the consumer the guarantee that they can pat themselves on the back thinking they’ve done their part.
Many people who are extremely concerned about climate change take part in individual actions every day in an attempt to curb their carbon footprint. We are constantly being told to fly less, shop less, eat less meat and pay for the oh-so pricey green alternatives. However, do these individual choices come at a cost of neglect to the collective movement that is needed to hold corporations and governments, the real culprits, accountable?
Individual actions, or performative environmentalism as some like to call it, have received mass criticism. They are often likened to a symptom of a world too influenced by capitalist logic to see it for what it is: the C-suite and government shifting the responsibility of environmental action onto the individual. 20 corporations (mostly fossil fuel companies) have been responsible for 35% of global emissions since 1965.
How are we letting them get away with this? The argument goes like this: as we focus on greening our lives, fossil fuel corporations keep polluting, which renders our efforts futile and shifts our focus away from collectively taking on corporate power. This hasn’t occurred by accident, but is a result of an “ideological war” waged over the last 40 years to dissuade consumers from collection action. Neoliberalism brought with it not only privatization, deregulation and reckless free trade deals, but the celebration of hyper-individualism. This is steeped into our culture and makes the messaging of taking personal responsibility to combat this major societal problem easier to internalize. Searching how to contribute to combating climate change on the internet offers advice on how to change your personal behaviour. However, from a statistical perspective, individuals cannot make a difference on their own. Even if you go vegan, never fly, never use plastic and do not have children, the effects in terms of emissions reduction are negligible. The worry with individual action is that it will obscure the culpability of the true offenders and systemic solutions that only governments have the power to implement.
But I am not ready to leave my plant-based diet and environmentally conscious lifestyle in the dust, throw up my hands and wait around for planetary collapse or for the big actors to start putting actions behind their promises. Herein lies the problem of criticizing individual action and performative environmentalism. It is not an either-or relationship. Environmentalists, behavioural psychologists, economists, and climate change researchers focus on this collective action vs individual action debate to their detriment. Once we finally stop seeing the various ways to fight climate change as mutually exclusive, we will be more effective in making real change.
Yes, sometimes buying things labeled ethically sourced is just corporate greenwashing, which can lead to them feeling morally licensed to go on doing carbon intensive things. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it leads people to think of themselves as environmentalists, and influence others to be more conscious through their actions. The positives of individual pro-environmental action far outweigh the negatives. Sometimes making pro-environmental decisions is seen as virtue-signalling, but sometimes people are engaging in real, meaningful change that helps push the needle in shifting norms, which make political action more feasible. For example, thanks to Greta Thunberg last year, the “flight shamed” movement spread across Europe. A study of 6000 people found that one in five said they reduced the number of air trips they took based on climate concerns.
Ignoring the individual roles we can play in environmentalism, just because it is systemic change that is going to make a real difference, depersonalizes climate change. It makes people that already feel helpless about the fate of the world feel even worse. It is also wrong. People do have a role to play in instigating systemic change, and we can do this through individual action. The individual role must be reframed. We should not see our responsibilities as consumers, but rather as citizens. It is our duty to stay informed, to act, to behave like we care about the environment through the choices we make and the leaders we elect. Through these actions, you will influence others to do the same. Individual action does not mean it is on your shoulders alone to ward off planetary collapse. You are not a bad person for not always making environmentally conscious decisions. Those who are living a green lifestyle are not more virtuous or better people, they usually just have access to more resources.
If you are able to make small individual actions in the right direction, don’t let that undermine your support for the substantive climate policies we need. Get angry at the core tenets of neoliberalism for causing this divide, unite with fellow activists, push for the institutional change that is needed. And, enjoy your favourite plant-based meal out of your reusable container while doing it.