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https://theconversation.com/individual-action-on-climate-was-tarred-as-greenwashing-or-virtue-signalling-but-it-still-has-a-place-239196>
"Two decades ago, the fight against climate change was often framed as a
personal choice. You might try to reduce your carbon footprint by avoiding
flights or change your buying habits to avoid meat or reduce plastic.
But this approach lost popularity, as it shifted responsibility from producer
to consumer. The carbon footprint, for instance, was famously popularised by
oil company BP. In 2008, well-known American climate activist Bill McKibben
pointed out the impotence of individual action without collective action.
Behavioural researchers also began finding a seeming paradox – many of us
expressed strong interest in taking individual action on climate, but our
actual behaviours barely changed.
Much focus shifted to top-down efforts such as government incentives for clean
energy and commitments at a national level to cut emissions.
But there is still a role for individuals – especially around demonstrating
what clean alternatives actually look like. For instance, the more solar panels
are installed on rooftops in your neighbourhood, the more likely you are to
consider it. This neighbourhood effect also affects uptake of electric vehicles
and e-bikes. This is especially important if we are to see clean alternatives
go mainstream rather than stop at a small fraction of the population.
Of course, individual actions can only go so far. As our research on
sustainable consumption has shown, individual actions can be magnified with a
backdrop of institutional support."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
