Climate Change Is The Fault Of Big Corporations, Right?

I’ve spoken to many people who believe climate change is the sole result of pollution by big corporations.

“[Insert corporation] produces [absurd amount] of climate emissions every year, I can’t help this by driving less or by not buying from Primark.”  

They believe it can’t be the responsibility of the individual to limit the effects of global warming as we have such a small footprint compared to the big players. 

Because climate change is the fault of the big corporations, right? Well…

I’m Not Responsible For Most Of The Of Global Emissions

Recent reports have found that 100 companies are responsible for an eye-watering 71% of global emissions. Most of these companies are, unsurprisingly, coal and oil producing companies; such as BP and Shell. 

In fact, the concept of the “carbon footprint” was created as an advertising campaign for BP. In 2004, this campaign popularised the term through their carbon footprint calculator, where consumers could assess how their daily lives are affecting global warming. This campaign was created to push the responsibility from BP, to make you believe pollution is your problem, not theirs. 

Our governments are meant to protect their citizens from harm, so why are they allowing big corporations to pollute our earth? Why are they shifting the responsibility from those we are meant to be protected from (big corporations) to those they are meant to protect (us)? 

Why are these businesses and government agencies asking individuals to bear the brunt of climate change when it wasn’t our fault in the first place? 

Individuals Are Statistically Blameless

Some argue that as climate change is a planetary-scale threat, it requires planetary-scale reforms, which can only be implemented by large corporations or the world’s governments. Sure, individuals can be responsible for their own behaviour, but the government is the only one who can implement legislation. The power of the consumer doesn’t equal the power of international corporations, only the government can keep these businesses in check. 

I disagree with this for two reasons:

Individuals do have the power to implement legislation. Let’s take the environmental campaigning community Friends Of The Earth as an example. In 2006, this organisation alongside other grassroots activist networks lobbied the government. through the Big Ask campaign, to bring the Climate Change Act into law, tying the government to achieving at least 80% cuts in greenhouse gases by 2050. More recently, they took the government to court, which ruled that the UK Net Zero Strategy is unlawful, forcing the government to revise its strategy and lay out a credible plan for meeting emissions targets.   

Additionally, your individual carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions attributable to you) is astonishingly high. Each US citizen, on average, emits 19 tonnes of greenhouse gases per year. That’s equivalent to driving around the world in the average car, 19 times. Individually, we may be the micro, but society as the whole is the macro. This article by Ryan Hagen puts it perfectly:

“It may seem like macro players such as governments and corporations have all the power, but let’s not forget that they exist to serve us. That is their reason for being. If they aren’t taking steps to fight climate change by minimising the GHG emissions they have control over, they are not providing us with the value we should expect from them. How much “value” does something really have if it harms others and guarantees that our tomorrows will be increasingly worse?

Elected officials and companies got to where they are today because of us. We decide whom to support by giving them our votes and our money. So if you think about it, we are the ones with the power – but enough people have to be on the same page to activate this power. Using our voices, money, and votes we collectively determine the various officials and companies that serve us. Let’s use these tools wisely to support parties who fight climate change by making sustainability a priority.”

Yeah, You Still Need To Make Changes.

The fact that corporations bear the brunt of the responsibility does not absolve individuals from action. You can’t walk around eating tonnes of meat, buying fast fashion, throwing plastic bottles out the window, and announce you're not the one contributing to global warming. Individuals and organisations can be responsible for climate change at the same time. It may not be statistically even, but we all have our own part to play. 

Individual action and collective action don’t have to be pitted against each other, either. You can lobby your MP, vote with your money, and take part in local climate activist events all while reducing your plastic waste, going vegan, and repairing your own clothes. Everything is connected, it’s essential to see yourself as part of the societal and political systems just as much as you see yourself as part of nature

As we’ve seen over and over again in history, political change comes from individual and group lobbying. It's important for us to remember that we have a voice and there are direct ways we can influence the policymakers. It's also important to remember that we as individuals, our actions matter. If enough of us collectively change our behaviour, that will make an equally massive impact.