There are many arguments that say individual actions don’t matter when it comes to addressing climate change, including some made by individuals that ostensibly want to limit global warming. Three of the more popular arguments are:
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Most climate change is due to ‘big business’ and therefore ‘big business’ should be responsible for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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There are a handful of well-known actions that are needed to address climate change (for example, ‘decarbonize the grid’, ’electrify everything’); this is where the focus should be.
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Individual actions are (individually) so small that they will neither change the trajectory of emissions, nor the minds of emitters.
These arguments are wrong, both in theory, and in practice. Here’s why:
I. Individuals Are Responsible for ~60% of Emissions
While it is indisputable that ‘big business’ emits substantial amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere, in truth, these emissions are due – in many cases – to decisions made by individuals.
Certainly, there are people that are locked in to high-emissions consumption patterns (a poorly constructed and poorly insulated house will require significant energy for heating during the winter). But there are many decisions that individuals make for reasons to do with aesthetics or self-identity or convenience, where there are compelling low-carbon alternatives.
As new lower-carbon technologies become more attractive (more affordable, a wider range of choices (see also below)), individuals will play an ever- increasing role in deciding whether to stick with high-emissions purchases and behaviors or take deliberate measures to chart a new, lower-carbon course.
If an opportunity to make a low-carbon purchase is possible today, why not take it?
II. Individuals Can Change Rapidly
The reality is that a lot of companies are optimized to continue doing what they do. It’s hard to make a change when you need to convince dozens of people to go along. It’s challenging to try something new when the status quo is so well understood. There is a real risk that investing in a new business model or technology won’t deliver the expected results, so why rock the boat?
Individuals make decisions on a much, much smaller scale – often there is only one person involved – but therein lies a great power. Many people are willing to purchase and try out new things. If these things don’t work as expected, it is often possible to return them for a refund. Fewer decision makers, more willingness to try new things, and fewer long-term risks all favor rapid change.
To illustrate this point: a big oil company cannot pivot from refining and selling liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels (that is, gasoline and diesel) to clean energy from one day to another. But a customer, making a decision to buy a new car, can literally today choose to never purchase another gallon (or liter) of hydrocarbon-based fuel. This is a change from 1 to 0 in a single day.
How many opportunities (today and in the future) will we have that allow us to immediately change the trajectory of our behavior to favor reduced GHG emissions? Why not seize these chances?
III. Aggregated Demand Seeds New Industries
We often look at items we buy and think “what impact does this really have on the climate?” It is a fair question, but it takes the wrong perspective. We need to look at it from the vantage point of the company that has made a decision to reduce its GHG footprint. Here we see that individual purchases – in aggregate – provide the necessary catalyst to support decarbonization efforts and scale the production of low-carbon products.
Maybe to pick an unfair example, but one has to imagine that back in 2007- 2008 any number of people asked why it made sense to buy a Tesla Roadster. And the sales volume supports this: estimated sales in 2008 were about 100 vehicles – not a lot more than Bugatti sells in a record year! As of writing, Tesla is on track to sell about 1.8 million electric vehicles in the current year (2023), and has completely upended the century-old automotive industry – specifically its perceptions regarding the feasibility, timing, cost and performance of electric vehicles.
None of this success would have been possible without early adopters taking a risk and daring to do something different to have a positive impact on the climate. What risks can we take to seed the next ‘Tesla’ of other industries we buy from?
IV. Learning and Sharing Drives Change
One obvious but under-appreciated aspects of transitioning to a low-carbon economy is just how little familiarity people have with what is required. How many people are really conversant in what a heat pump can and cannot do (what is a good brand for heat pumps, are there tax incentives available, what is a fair price to pay, what arguments do we make if an installer challenges our judgement?)
This is where individual actions matter. Because people that invest in first educating themselves and then adopting new, low-carbon technologies become tremendous resources to help demystify to others what a transition to a lower-emissions lifestyle actually entails.
To bring it to a point: if we are not willing to take the time to research a new low-carbon approach, to try it, and then to share our findings, then are we really doing all we can to make a positive difference regarding climate change?
V. Actions Seed Behavioral Shifts
Let’s be honest: we all have a lot to do, and when we have free time, we look for things to take our minds off of the tasks we have in front of us. In this context, it is all too easy for climate change to take a back seat. To put it provocatively: when you think of the climate retroactively or prospectively, you think of it not at all. What matters is thinking of climate in the moment you make a decision.
Therefore actively, deliberately and repeatedly deciding to take small – and maybe seemingly inconsequential – actions is a choice to bring climate change to the forefront of our consciousness and to build good habits. In other words, it is better (including for all the reasons listed above) to make a point of doing something positive for the climate every day, no matter how small, then to wait for the chance to make a bold change. Chances are, if we take this second approach, when a key moment arrives, we won’t be prepared mentally to do something about climate change, and so will end up favoring the status quo.
Summary
Climate change is a difficult topic. To be frank, it isn’t particularly popular in some quarters. Even when discussed more favorably, the topic often gets drowned out by here-and-now considerations (who doesn’t enjoy the thrill of buying something new and knowing that it will arrive tomorrow at our doorstep?)
But climate change is an important topic. In this context, it is critical that we insulate ourselves from distractions. There is certain ruthless truth to the idea that we can only drive change when we put our efforts behind things that we can control. What we can control is our own behaviors and actions. Not all and not all the time. But many, and most of the time. What we need to do is personally commit to doing our part, no matter how small this might appear, and trusting that our collective actions will ensure that individual actions do matter.
